Many property owners in Hamilton County have likely seen an increase in assessed values the last few years.
The Hamilton County Assessor’s Office is responsible for assessing property values annually. According to the office’s website, “the value shows any changes to assessed value from the prior year and serves as the basis for property taxes payable in the following year.”
The website states that changes to values “typically relate to several required processes including, land order, reassessment, trending or new construction.”
The Metro Indianapolis Board of Realtors indicates Hamilton County year-over-year increases in median home value was 13.2 percent between January 2021 and January 2022, and Hamilton County data indicates a median home value increase of 13.5 percent between January 2022 and January 2023.
According to Hamilton County Assessor Kevin Poore, who has held the office since January 2023, assessments are “initially based on square footage and property features using a cost approach to value.”
“We use (the) base value information to compare sales data as assessments are required to reflect market value,” Poore said. “The assessor’s office evaluates neighborhood by neighborhood, comparing sales from within each neighborhood to their current assessments. If the assessed values are below the market value sales we are seeing in the neighborhood, we are required to factor the assessments to reflect that sales data. This analysis is done on an annual basis.”
Since last year, Poore said values have “somewhat leveled out,” but are continuing to rise.
“Over the years, we have still shown a change of about 4 percent (increase) in Hamilton County,” Poore said. “It really varies depending on the price point, subdivision or even the area of accounting. Some neighborhoods may go up more than others.”
In 2021 the then assessor Robin Ward told Current she’d “never seen values like this before” and thought the COVID-19 pandemic would slow things down, but Poore said time has shown values are “still pushing higher.”
“I certainly think interest rates have slowed the market down in terms of price points,” Poore said. “You have less supply and fewer people looking to sell their homes right now because they don’t want to deal with a higher interest rate. Because of that, demand is high, and if nothing else, values are flat, if not still slightly increasing.”
Since 2019, countywide total assessed values including residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural and exempt parcels, have risen 57 percent.
The countywide increase per year:
- 2019 to 2020: 6 percent
- 2020 to 2021: 6 percent
- 2021 to 2022: 14 percent
- 2022 to 2023: 13 percent
- 2023 to 2024: 7 percent
Poore said that nearly all cities countywide are trending toward rising assessed values.
“I don’t know that it’s hotter in any one particular area than another,” Poore said. “I think in the past, when we looked at it from township to township, they’ve all been fairly consistent within a couple of percentage points.”
Last year, Poore said the assessor’s office saw a “record number of appeals.” This year, it has already had many appeals come through.
“Last year, we had nearly 2,500 appeals, which is 700 or 800 more than we had the previous year,” Poore said. “The first week here this year was really busy, and we have had a fair number of people waiting to file appeals.”
Assessments for property owners were mailed through the Hamilton County Assessor’s office April 30. The deadline to file an appeal is June 17, 2024. For more, contact the Noblesville office at 317-776-9617.
