EVERETT — Snohomish County property values saw big year-over-year gains in some rural areas and in heavily suburban south county, recent assessment notices show.
Property values within the Darrington School District rose 15.1 percent — more than anywhere else in the county. Values in the northeast corner of the county tumbled after the deadly Oso mudslide in 2014, but have rebounded better than expected, Assessor Linda Hjelle said.
“They’re seeing a larger increase as kind of a catch-up,” Hjelle said.
Properties within the Granite Falls School District had the next-largest increase of 10.8 percent. Hjelle sees that as a product of the real-estate market finally recovering from the recession. She believes similar forces are at play in the Monroe and Sultan school districts, where values went up 9.4 and 9.6 percent, respectively.
“For some of the east-county areas, I think it’s just that the market has been slower in coming back and now it is coming back,” Hjelle said. “That seems to be what the sales are showing us.”
Suburban communities in the southern part of the county are likely seeing increases from the hot housing market and scarcity of available homes, Hjelle said.
Values within the Edmonds School District increased by 10.6 percent compared to last year. In addition to Edmonds, the district encompasses Brier, Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace and Woodway.
The Northshore School District, which covers the Bothell area, saw values increase about 9.5 percent.
Properties within the Everett School District rose by 7.6 percent, with communities farther north seeing slightly smaller increases.
The combined assessed value of homes and businesses reached $110.2 billion for the whole county.
The value of residential and commercial properties increased countywide by 8.6 percent as of Jan. 1, 2016, compared to a year earlier. The assessed values reflect last year’s real estate trends and don’t factor in the intense housing market of 2016.
The Assessor’s Office will use the information to calculate property taxes due in 2017. The office mailed assessment notices on June 24. People have 60 days to appeal values to the Board of Equalization.
Property-tax statements will be mailed next year, after local governments have passed their yearly budgets and after voters have a chance to decide property-tax measures on the Nov. 8 ballot.
Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465; nhaglund@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @NWhaglund.
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