Home Values Dive for Third Year, Says Will County Assessor

The majority of Will County homeowners will see a decrease in the assessed value of their property for 2012, with an overall average reduction of about 6.44 percent throughout the area, according to Chief County Assessment Officer Rhonda Novak.

In a press release, she said this is the third year the county has seen a decline, due in large part to the lingering effects of the recent housing market crash and struggling economy.

“The reduction is a direct reflection of the drop in property values that Will County, and much of our nation, has been experiencing for several years,” she stated in the release.

In DuPage Township, the average reduction rate was higher at 6.757.

DuPage Township includes , Romeoville, Lockport, Naperville, Lemont, Woodridge and Plainfield, north of 135th Street and roughly west of I-355.

In DuPage Township, 88 percent of the houses, or 24,145, received a reduction of some sort in their assessed value, according to John Randall, DuPage Township Assessor.  There are 27,364 houses in DuPage Township.

What the drop in assessed value means today in terms of real dollars:

Novak said, "Even though your property might be worth less in 2012 than it was in the year or years before, and even though you might see a decreased assessment to reflect that, it's still possible your taxes will stay the same or even increase."

Hernandez explained that despite the drop in value, the cost of services doesn't go down. Add to the fact that the budgets of local taxing bodies—schools, library, fire district, park district and the like do not always go down.

Realistically speaking, she said, "Your taxes could even go up." The Will County treasurer is charged with recalculating the tax rate higher to satisfy the levy requests of the taxing bodies within the township's boundaries, Hernandez said. 

The good news is that property sales are on the up-tick:

In regard to the number of total transaction sales, they're increasing, said Novak. The value of homes has declined in the last few years, but the recent boost in transactions is a good sign. The prices haven't yet risen, but she expects that to improve as well.

"I think we've seen the worst of it," said Novak.    

The past few years were tough. "It used to be that we'd have two or three 2-inch (thick) binders of transactions in a year. Now we've got one, and it's mostly foreclosures and depressed properties."

People aren't selling, she said, unless they have to. The economy has to pick up before homes begin selling as they had in the past. People aren't looking to sell simply to move to another neighborhood now, she added.