Taxable home values climb 7.4% in Travis County

Continuing a nearly decadelong trend, the Austin area's flourishing economy pushed Travis County home values higher in 2019, although they rose at a slightly slower pace than in previous years, according to Travis Chief Appraiser Marya Crigler's office.

For 2019, the median taxable home value jumped 7.4%, rising to $275,112 from $256,155 last year, Crigler said in releasing preliminary appraised values. That compares to 2018's increase of 10.1% in median taxable value. The median is the midpoint, meaning half the houses in the county with a homestead exemption were valued at less than $275,112 and half were valued higher.

The taxable value — a home's assessed value after exemptions —  is used to determine the property tax bill.

The median market value, the amount for which a home potentially could sell for, increased 6.2%, rising to $359,154 from $338,102 last year for homes with a homestead exemption. That exemption limits appraised value increases to 10 percent over the previous year’s value.

"The Austin region continues to thrive as it enters its 10th year of positive trends in its real estate and overall economy," Crigler said. She cited the Austin-Round Rock region's low jobless rate, its job growth and its swift population growth.

This week, Crigler's office will mail about 438,009 appraisal notices to the county's residential and commercial property owners. The values will be used by city, county, school districts and other local taxing entities to set 2019 property tax bills. About 30% of property owners will receive a postcard in lieu of a notice of appraised value, Crigler said. The postcards are new this year for properties where the value decreased, stayed the same or increased less than $1,000.

For owners who want to challenge their property's appraised value, the deadline for filing a protest is May 15, or 30 days after the appraisal district mailed the notice, whichever is later.

For all properties in Travis County, preliminary taxable values rose 13.3% over 2018, to $213 billion from $188 billion last year, and led by commercial value increases of 16%, Crigler said.

Crigler said the past year brought a shift in the market.

"For the past several years, we have seen double-digit appreciation across all areas of Travis County," Crigler said. "However, for 2019 we saw a slight softening of the residential market for most of Travis County. While sales prices are still going up, they are not going up at the same rate as in the past."

The new appraised values reinforce that East Austin, where rapid residential and commercial development is transforming the landscape, remains one of the hottest areas in the county, Crigler said. East Austin was the only pocket in Travis County with double-digit appreciation of 11% to 12%, Crigler said.

In the Austin-Round Rock metro area as a whole, the median home price "will reflect much narrower growth than previous years," Crigler said, though it still will rise. That's because for six years in a row, demand for housing has exceeded supply, Crigler said. Sharp price increases for developed lots, building materials and labor also are factors that have been driving home prices higher, experts have said.

Eldon Rude, an Austin-area housing market expert, said two forces led to the "slightly lower rate" of home price appreciation during the past year.

"First, builders continue to add to the supply of new homes at a high rate, with over 16,000 new homes built last year and more than 70,000 added over the last five years. Increasing new home production to these levels helps bring the supply of housing closer to demand, which can ultimately slow the pace of price appreciation," said Rude, principal of 360° Real Estate Analytics, an Austin-based consulting firm.

 "Secondly, with home prices in the region rising faster than incomes over the last several years, more and more prospective home buyers are being forced out of the market, which tends to slow the rate of price increases," Rude said. He said that has been the case in recent years in cities including Seattle, Portland and Denver.

"Looking forward, if the Austin economy stays strong and produces jobs at or near the levels we have seen in recent years, I expect our housing market will remain healthy with homes prices continuing to go up," Rude said.

On the commercial front, "development continued to boom in Austin in 2018," Crigler said, noting the continued expansion locally of tech companies including Apple, Google, Oracle, Facebook and Indeed.

She also cited new mixed-use developments that are transforming South Congress Avenue; Charles Schwab's opening of a 469,000-square-foot campus in June; and United Soccer League’s Austin Bold FC breaking ground on a 5,000-seat venue at Circuit of the Americas.

With no state income tax in Texas, the state government and local taxing entities rely heavily on property taxes to fund schools and many local services. In Austin, where property values have risen swiftly in recent years, homeowners have felt the squeeze. The Texas Legislature this session has made property tax reform a priority.

Crigler said that in a typical legislative session, efforts for property tax relief largely have focused on appraisal reform, while the other side of the property tax equation — tax rates — "has gotten very little attention."

"What is striking this session is the attention being paid to tax rate reform," Crigler said. "The public is very aware of, and utilizes, the appraisal protest process; but very few are aware of, understand, or participate in the process for setting tax rates. It is very important for taxpayers to understand these issues so that they can give their elected officials their informed feedback."

This session, the flagship bills for property tax reform are Senate Bill 2 and House Bill 2. Both bills focus on appraisal and tax rate reform, Crigler said. Both seek to make tax rate elections mandatory for all taxing units if the rate adopted exceeds the rollback rate, which both bills would lower.

Median taxable home values by school district

                                             2018                                 2019                        percent change

Austin ISD                          $313,569                        $341,200                          + 8.8%    

Del Valle ISD                       $128,438                        $147,139                          +14.6% 

Eanes ISD                          $784,522                         $842,119                          +7.3%

Elgin ISD                            $132,599                         $143,887                           +8.5%

Lago Vista ISD                   $183,375                         $198,001                           +7.8%

Lake Travis ISD                  $ 332,886                        $354,912                           +6.6%

Leander ISD                      $ 423,956                         $446,008                           +5.2%

Manor ISD                         $ 180,801                        $192,230                            +6.3%

Marble Falls ISD                 $ 345,417                        $372,102                            +7.7%

Pflugerville ISD                  $ 214,000                        $ 228,917                           +7.0% 

Round Rock ISD                 $385,666                         $408,871                            +6.0%

Travis County                     $256,155                        $275,112                             +7.4%

Source: Travis Central Appraisal District

Travis median taxable home values by school district