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Welcome to the NEW Atkinson Reporter! Under new management, with new resolve.

The purpose of this Blog is to pick up where the Atkinson Reporter has left off. "The King is dead, Long live the King!" This Blog is a forum for the discussion of predominantly Atkinson; Officials, People, Ideas, and Events. You may give opinion, fact, or evaluation, but ad hominem personal attacks will not be tolerated, or published. The conversation begun on the Atkinson Reporter MUST be continued!

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Monday, August 4, 2008

Have you filed for your abatement yet?

Anonymous said...

Article submission:

Did you file for an abatement?

With house prices dropping, your home in Atkinson is probably overvalued now and you are entitled to a lower assessment. Take a look at your latest tax bill. Do you think you can get the assessed amount if you were to sell? It would be prudent for you to examine your tax card, which contains information about your home that is not reflected in the tax bill. Note any discrepancies in the description and get an assessment from a realtor. Why should you pay more tax than you should? Based on the article, the drop in the median price by $11,500 equates to $162.00 tax decrease, assuming you believe the average house in Atkinson is worth $434,115.

---------------------------------

Home sales plummet in N.H.; prices down 8 percent

By Meghan Carey
Staff writer


The number of homes sold in Rockingham County during the first half of 2008 was down almost 17 percent over the first half of last year.

Homes are spending more time on the market, and when they finally sell they're selling for less than they would have last year, according to the New Hampshire Association of Realtors. But the housing market in Rockingham County isn't suffering nearly as much as the rest of the state.

Statewide, home sales were down 22 percent for the first six months of this year in comparison to the same period a year ago. Merrimack County experienced a 29 percent drop in sales while Grafton County saw 31 percent fewer sales.

The median sales price in New Hampshire was $241,000 for the more than 4,500 single-family homes sold — 8 percent lower than a year ago, according to association spokesman Dave Cummings.

But here in the southern part of the state, the median sales price — $295,000 — dropped less than 7 percent, Cummings said. Both in Rockingham County and statewide, homes are staying on the market for about 140 days.

While the news may be frustrating for those trying to sell, Cummings said the fluctuation in home prices is nothing new. The market runs in a 10- to 12-year cycle, and right now it's on the downside.

"In the mid- to late '90s, there was a real buildup of prices. They went up by double digits for five straight years," he said. "Now, it's starting to correct itself. It is literally a drop, but any sort of analysis would show that it's a correction, not a collapse."

With prices decreasing, sales are improving some for Tinkham Realty in Londonderry.

"In the last couple of months, I've seen a few more things go into agreement," said Tinkham real estate agent Deborah Shacht. "But there's still a lot of homes on the market compared to a couple of years ago."

Homes in the Derry and Londonderry area are staying on the market for about six months, Shacht said. Two years ago, houses averaged just 30 days on the market in this area.

The asking prices for homes haven't dropped much on average, she said. Starter homes range from $250,000 to $325,000, while larger homes in the area still average in the high $300,000s to $400,000, Shacht said.

Those prices probably won't drop much lower, according to Jim Lyons, president of the Realtors Association. He isn't sure when the market will pick up but said it probably will not change much until then.

"New Hampshire is performing best in New England," he said. "I think we're going to fare well."

To reflect that, many homeowners are still trying to sell in this buyers market.

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Plaistow is seeing just a slight drop in listings in Atkinson and Hampstead, the same number of listings in Plaistow, and more listings in Newton, according to Senior Vice President Erminio Grasso.

With a "good amount" of foreclosed homes on the market in those towns, average prices have dropped a bit, he said. But the higher the number of listings, the better chance buyers have to get a good deal in Rockingham County.

"Supply and demand," Grasso said. "More new listings cause prices to go down."

That's happened in Atkinson, where the median sales price has dropped almost $11,500 during the first six months this year compared to the same period last year, Grasso said. The median home price in Atkinson is $434,115, he said.

Newton has seen a more significant drop, with the median sales price about $38,000 less through June compared to last year. The median price in Newton is $218,400, Grasso said.

Plaistow's median sales price dropped about $28,000 to an average of $218,911, he said.

But in Hampstead, the housing market is going against the trend.

The median sales price has appreciated by about $2,000 to $283,089, Grasso said. Coldwell Banker sold 50 houses in Hampstead between January and June compared to 44 homes sold during the same period last year.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

"But in Hampstead, the housing market is going against the trend."

Once again Meghan Carey misses the forest for the trees. It's not a coincidence that the town 'bucking the trend' on housing prices is also 'bucking the trend' on the quality of education provided to the children of new home buyers.

Those without children attending Timberlane also have a stake in our schools -- the resale value of their homes.

Anonymous said...

There has not been 50 homes sold in Hampstead. There has been a total of 28 residential homes sold in Hampstead and only 21 condos in that same time period. Also 8 mobile homes . These are MLS stats and include all real estate transfered as posted in MLS by all agencies working in the southern NH market. We just posted Atkinson MLS stats on our blog.

Anonymous said...

The math is wrong and she quotes a range of percentages 7% to 17%.

If the median price in Atkinson is $434,115, down by $11,500 that's not a drop of 7%, it's a drop of only 3%, since the median price would have been $445,615 last year. The median would now actually be $414,421 with a 7% drop.

However, why would Atkinson only drop 7% when the rest of the county is down 17%? It doesn't make sense. Atkinson has alot of condos and small, inexpensive, cheaply constructed homes. My guess is that property here is worth 17% less also. This would mean the median price is now $369,860. A much more believable number.

None of these numbers mean anything the way they are presented, they are just based on sales and what's on the market, not the value of the whole town.

If you really want to know what your house is worth, get an appraisal and check your tax card.

Curt Springer said...

Yes, a comment from Danville, but this is true in all towns:

Assessed values often don't match actual values, especially when the market is rising or falling. Your tax bill is fair as long as everybody is off by the same percentage, up or down. So if all houses are assessed 10% higher than current actual market prices, you have no grounds for seeking an abatement unless your individual assessment is more than 10% higher than your actual market value.

The last real estate bubble was 20 years ago. Danville re-assessed the town at the top of the market. The year before the reassessment, we all knowingly paid taxes on assessed values that were half the true values. Nobody objected, to my knowledge. Then we reassessed and the market crashed and the next tax bill had assessed values that were double the actual values. Suddenly all these people were complaining about the alleged unfairness of their bills. I guess they thought they were getting away with something the prior year when the assessed values on their bills were half the true values.

Anonymous said...

Actually, Mr. Springer is partially right.

The reason assessed value do not matter much as long as they are across the board is because everyone pays a $ per Thousand rate on the assessed value of their property.

Re-evaluating the entire town and having it come out with a 10% reduction just means that the rate per thousand increases by 10%. Your personal tax bill remains the same.

Anonymous said...

You're assuming the houses are fairly assessed in relation to one another and that is not true. On my street alone 60% of the hhouse have finished space that isn't being taxed at all, because they didn't pull permits and/or it's not on their tax cards. On my street, my neighbors are not paying their fair share.

Also, according to the newspaper the whole county is down 17% so everyone should have their property reassessed, using your 10% rule. If you think the market is not down 10%, think again.

I filed for an abatement this year and my tax bill was reduced by over 20% due to errors and over assessment.....but you do whatever you want at your house.

Anonymous said...

Wow .... I never realized how many qualified assessors there are out there.

Of course you all neglected to mention that even if you get home values assessed at what the current market value may dictate

your taxes will be adjusted accordingly

money has to be raised in some manner to pay the state, local and county taxes

so if it can't be created by the formula of your assessed value times equalization rates then

the taxes will be raised by changing the formula

you will still pay the same it will only be calculated with a different formula

of course your home will have a lowered assessed value and you can sit happily

UNTIL you decide to sell and then you can come back to the town and assessor DEMANDING your value to be increased because after all

your property is worth so much more when you want to sell it

Anonymous said...

Who would ever go to the assessor and complain that their assessment was too low? Are you for real? When you sell, you are not limited in any way to what the town says your property is worth! In the real world, it doesn't matter...only when you are taxed.

This topic is actually about dropping values and many people are over assessed, probably everyone who isn't hiding a finished basement or attic, or both.

Anonymous said...

to anon 8/8 8:48am

Speaking from first hand experience

yes it is for real.....

the assessed value of your home is based on information and details specific to your proprety and assessing formulas are applied across the board. If the basic information is incorrect resulting in an assessed value less than it should be - no one and I mean NO ONE is knocking down the door to correct that fact and pay their fair share in tax

UNTIL

it is time to sell

and then people are very quick to correct details that will increase their assessed value so they can list their property at the highest value passing the tax burden onto the new home owner. Happens every day.

so IT IS FOR REAL

Values may be dropping but they will come back as they always do. Shall each municipality spend mucho dollars each and every time the market goes down then up then down then up to continually revalue properties?

Doesn't seem like a prudent way to spend tax dollars.

Anonymous said...

To anon at 4:58

The town is increasing the assesments on everyone's property every year, so yes they are spending money to do this already. If this town took a bond on the assessment company to protect us, they wouldn't be paying for reassessments. Since property values have changed so much lately, people should get their file reviewed. It's as simple as that.

Why should anyone wait for their property value to bounce back up to a level at which they are fairly assessed? Why pay more in the interim so that you can pay your fair share down the road? It sounds like a silly plan to me.

We have a right to be fairly assessed each year, especially if the town is constantly increasing the assessment each year to keep in stride with increases. Let them keep in stride with decreases also.

Anonymous said...

Isn't this all academic? The deadline for filing for an abatement was in March.

Anonymous said...

assessments do not increase on a yearly basis...that would be ridiculously time consuming and very very expensive

pick ups (corrections and revisit due to permits and changes that have occured) are portioned out on a yearly basis to 20% of the town

thus at the end of a 5 year period the town does not have to pay for a complete reval to the tune of $200,000 give or take

This cost is covered by $$ raised and appropriated in the operating budget and part of the contract made with the assessing company for the basic work they will deliver to maintain the town's assessing

Yes abatements are due by 3/1 for the previous tax year. So you have missed the boat until after 2008 second tax bill in November. Then you can file an abatement for the 2008 tax year.

Of course you will need back up documentation if you wish to challenge the actual assessed value based on the current market.

Documentation includes a "bank" appraisal not a realtor's appraisal and at least 3 comparative properties that sold within the previous 6 months for less than assessed value.

The assessor and/or selectmen cannot just take your word that your property is over assessed it becomes dependent on the person filing the abatement to prove that their property is assessed incorrectly utilizing hard evidence not opinion.

Anonymous said...

My assessment has increased every year for the last 15 years here in town.

You don't have the facts.

Every year is an opportunity to have your card corrected. The March deadline was for last year.

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