Assessed Value and Market Value in Tucson

November 18, 2008

Question: Why is the assessed value of this home $199,000 and the list price is $260,000?

Answer: Because the assessor’s valuation of the home - in reality - has nothing to do with market value in Tucson. The Pima County Assessor determines a ‘value’ for your home (another description of how they determine value here), but they use a mass appraisal system using the last 3-4 years worth of sales, and they end up at a figure which is usually completely unrelated to the dollar amount that someone would be willing to pay for it on the open market today. In theory, they’re related. In actuality, they usually aren’t even close. It could be much higher or much lower than market value. Because sales of homes in Tucson don’t automatically trigger the tax man to re-evaluate the value of your property, assessed value and market value rarely relate to each other.

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