Definition of "Assessment ratio"

Myrna  Strain real estate agent

Written by

Myrna Strainelite badge icon

Watson Realty Corp

When a real estate owner wants to know what their property tax liability is, they calculate the assessment ratio for their property. An assessment ration is a relationship between a real estate's assessed valuation and its market value. In order to know what is the assessment ratio for any personal property or real estate, a homeowner needs to learn what the assessed value of the property is and its market value. In order to discover a property’s assessment ratio, one needs to divide the assessed value of the property by the asking price of the property. The assessment ratio is rarely at 100%, as the two values rarely match. So let’s see how the assessment ratio works.

How does the assessment ratio work?

As mentioned above, the math to discover the property’s assessment ratio is relatively simple. Getting the two values can be slightly trickier. 

Firstly, you need to know that the assessed value is a value that the authorities, in this case, a government assessor, sets for the property annually to calculate the annual property tax of the owner. In order to calculate the assessed value of a property, the assessor needs the property’s market value, which is multiplied by the assessment rate. The assessment rate is set at the district or county level.

The second element of the equation is the market value of the property. That is relatively straightforward as it is the actual price of the property if it were put on the market. For this, one needs to consider the supply and demand present on the market at that time, the structure of the real estate, materials used, aesthetics, etc. 

The difference between a property’s market value and its assessed value gives homeowners a good understanding of the market’s current condition, discouraged or promising. If the two values are equal or close to being, then the market is promising; if the values are distant, the market is discouraged.

The formula for the assessment ratio is: 

Market Value/Assessed Value = Assessment Ratio%

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Real Estate Terms

The meaning of a guarantee covers a legal and financially-binding agreement signed between three parties involved in real estate or financial transactions. In this document, typically ...

Person or business that obtains mortgages for others by finding suitable lenders. The mortgage broker sometimes deals with collections and disbursements. Typically the mortgage broker ...

Unexpected increase in the price of property not due to any effort on the owner's part. An example is when the appraised value of a house increases because of a population increase in the ...

Same as term closing: legal process of transferring a piece of real estate to a buyer. Typically it occurs in the office of the lender, attorney, or an escrow company. ...

If escrow is the legal “moment” where assets are held by a third party (an escrow agent) hired by both the buyer and the seller of goods like real estate and insurance until the ...

Time it takes to drive to an outlying area form a major urban area. The driving time radius can radically affect real estate values in outlying areas of major metropolitan regions. Unless ...

Also called trust deed. A document that conveys title to a neutral third party during the period in which the mortgage loan is outstanding as collateral for a debt. ...

The direction in which a community is growing. Directional growth is measured over time, and its path strongly influences current and future market values of those properties clearly in ...

An adversary hearing allows both parties to an issue to present their views. A public procedure performed by an administrative or legislative body to investigate certain matters and ...

Popular Real Estate Questions