Volusia County property values to jump 15% to nearly $100 billion, according to projection
Volusia County is seeing another surge in property values, up 15% over last year, according to a projection by Property Appraiser Larry Bartlett.
It's a dropoff from last year's smoking-hot 23.7% year-over-year increase, but it's still a higher-than-average growth rate.
And it pushed the value of all property in the county to $97.7 billion, the highest ever.
"Fifteen percent. I think it’s a good growth rate," Bartlett said Friday. "Especially with the conditions we’re going through right now with high demand and a real low inventory. Supply is low because nobody wants to sell. They got all these mortgages at 3% (interest) and if they want to buy, they’ve got to get a mortgage at 6%.
"So that creates high demand."
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The April report on home sales reflects what Bartlett is saying. Realtors in Volusia County reported 783 closings last month, down 17.4% from 948 a year ago. Nationwide, sales were off 23.2%, while the median existing home-sales price was down 1.7% from April 2022, to $388,800.
The median home sales price in Volusia climbed 2.2% year-over-year to $347,500.
Relatively low home prices have long attracted homebuyers to Volusia County. There are also other reasons, including beach access and climate.
"The thing that’s easy to be sure about is that Volusia County is a great place to live and have a business," Bartlett said.
Another factor in the county's increased value is new construction, which amounts to a projected $1.6 billion in 2023, up 26% over last year.
The tax roll increased in all of Volusia County's municipalities except for a sliver of Flagler Beach that crosses the border with Flagler County into Volusia.
The five cities projecting the largest percent increase in value in 2023 are:
New Smyrna Beach, 17.78%
Orange City, 17.35%
Daytona Beach, 17.2%
Deltona, 17.17%
Oak Hill, 16.71%
Those increased values and the new construction should result in lower millage rates, if not actual property tax dollars paid, Bartlett said.
"When values are up, the millage should go down," Bartlett said. "To my way of thinking, taxes are either going to be less or stay about the same, because then we have more properties to spread the burden of paying for taxes."
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Volusia County appraiser projects property values to increase by 15%
