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I find the latter is fairly inaccurate as towns with low rates tend to inflate assessments while others are way below market value (e.g., my house is still assessed at the short-sale price of my home, where the current market value is likely 18-22% higher.
If the former, you can see if there are any sites which accurately aggregate MLS sales data over X period and look at the median or mean value. This is also hugely flawed as towns lacking inventory might see price booms and busts depending on whether a developer recently sold a subdivision of premium housing or a string of bottom feeder properties hit the market.
I find the latter is fairly inaccurate as towns with low rates tend to inflate assessments while others are way below market value (e.g., my house is still assessed at the short-sale price of my home, where the current market value is likely 18-22% higher.
That is incorrect. Each town goes by the same revaluation formula and there is heavy oversight by the state. In contrast to common belief, a town does not have flexibility in how it assesses property (only the tax rate, even that is very limited by Prop 2.5).
So this is not exactly what you're asking for, but may still be helpful. Itoffers an interactive map of e.g. median sale price of homes in a GIS display. I maximized and adjusted the visualization a bit and hovered over Westford for you - screenshot is below. It's described at the town level I believe (or could even be at the zip code level?).
That is incorrect. Each town goes by the same revaluation formula and there is heavy oversight by the state. In contrast to common belief, a town does not have flexibility in how it assesses property (only the tax rate, even that is very limited by Prop 2.5).
Well the oversight must be lacking then, because I can pull up the assessment of various neighborhoods and see the homes undervalued or overvalued by a good 15-18%, which correlates to a a significant chunk of money.
That's not to say it's always 'bad faith' ... it could simply be the towns are not updating with regularity and/or are doing so without good data (e.g., non-permitted improvements). A recent example of this is my parents house as of 2017 was assessed at $340K. The town reassessed after some minor improvements for the 2018 and placed a value of $500K. The home sold in June 2018 for $590K. In one year the assessment to sale value had a 70%+ differential with no change to square footage or layout with land value constituting the bulk of the change ... great oversight! My own home had an assessment of $405K in 2015, which I purchased for $310k in late 2015 after a year of 7% RE gains. It was reassessed for $325K in 2016 and remains there despite equal comps selling for $390-410K.
Obviously one or two anecdotes do not make a reality, but I see this play out constantly with estate transitions, which to me suggests at any given time a bulk of the properties in a given town likely have inaccurate assessments. In the end, the best gauge of value is recent sales.
Well the oversight must be lacking then, because I can pull up the assessment of various neighborhoods and see the homes undervalued or overvalued by a good 15-18%, which correlates to a a significant chunk of money.
That's not to say it's always 'bad faith' ... it could simply be the towns are not updating with regularity and/or are doing so without good data (e.g., non-permitted improvements). A recent example of this is my parents house as of 2017 was assessed at $340K. The town reassessed after some minor improvements for the 2018 and placed a value of $500K. The home sold in June 2018 for $590K. In one year the assessment to sale value had a 70%+ differential with no change to square footage or layout with land value constituting the bulk of the change ... great oversight! My own home had an assessment of $405K in 2015, which I purchased for $310k in late 2015 after a year of 7% RE gains. It was reassessed for $325K in 2016 and remains there despite equal comps selling for $390-410K.
Obviously one or two anecdotes do not make a reality, but I see this play out constantly with estate transitions, which to me suggests at any given time a bulk of the properties in a given town likely have inaccurate assessments. In the end, the best gauge of value is recent sales.
Doing it correctly and by the book, is of course an entirely different thing than reflecting reality. I had to file afor an abatement one year, I lost but guess what...they adjusted it to the correct value for the next year! I still think they were doing their job correctly, just that the system is very sluggish. And I think, you would find similar discrepancies within all towns as they are all going by that same "archaic" system. One thing to keep in mind however, is I don't believe all towns are on the same schedule. One might be a year or two behind another.
If your town is due for a 3 year revaluation, I would expect a big jump in 2019.
So this is not exactly what you're asking for, but may still be helpful. It offers an interactive map of e.g. median sale price of homes in a GIS display. I maximized and adjusted the visualization a bit and hovered over Westford for you - screenshot is below. It's described at the town level I believe (or could even be at the zip code level?).
Just using Westford, MA as an example, the data you show seems awfully low as compared to Zillow, Realtor, etc. I'd assume it's much the same for other towns, too. There are only 16 homes/condos/apartments for sale under $450k (excluding the Summer village cottages, which are 3 month properties). The other 70 extending up towards $1.4M.
Not exactly what I was looking for, but it's pretty thorough with the towns I'm most interested in. I would love a similar chart for the towns in MA not included as well as nearby states like Rhode Island and Maine, but I might be dreaming there.
Not exactly what I was looking for, but it's pretty thorough with the towns I'm most interested in. I would love a similar chart for the towns in MA not included as well as nearby states like Rhode Island and Maine, but I might be dreaming there.
Just keep in mind these lists can be a bit deceptive because it reflects the median price without reflecting the median size or quality. Dover, for instance, is very close to the top of that list in part because it's expensive and in part because the aren't really any modest homes in Dover.
Just keep in mind these lists can be a bit deceptive because it reflects the median price without reflecting the median size or quality. Dover, for instance, is very close to the top of that list in part because it's expensive and in part because the aren't really any modest homes in Dover.
Also, there can be nontrivial distinctions between assessed values, RE listing prices, and sale prices...
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