Definition of "Capitalization rate"

Natalie Bell real estate agent

Written by

Natalie Bellelite badge icon

Keating Real Estate

Also known as “cap rate” or “income yield”, Capitalization Rate is a useful way to compute the rate of return on a real estate investment. It is commonly used in the Income approach to determine the Market Value of a property.

Say you want to buy a property just to rent it and make a profit. You will be advised to discover the cap rate of that property in order to calculate what you will approximately earn renting that property to a Tenant.

To discover the capitalization rate of a property, divide the Net Operating Income (NOI) by the amount you’ll pay to acquire that property. In short, the capitalization rate is the value that one property produces divided by the value that property costs.

Here’s an example to better visualize it:

A building is for sale. It cost $100,000 when it was built 20 years ago. And it produces - between residential and commercial rent - $50,000 a year. The capitalization rate is 50,000/100,000, which equals 0.5%.

An important thing to realize regarding the cap rate is that it does not take into consideration the depreciation of a property. That’s why, when valuing a house, it’s crucial for an Appraiser to use all methods of evaluation appropriate to the case.

Real Estate Tips:

Maybe just learning a new term won't be enough to solve your situation. Check out our real estate questions; perhaps someone else has gone through what you're going through!

Or just head to The OFFICIAL Real Estate Agent Directory® and leave it to the pros.

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

Right to an item belongs to the public at large so anyone can use it. An example is a real estate software program that is publicly available by an electronic bulletin board service. ...

Legal dictate that must exist for property to be owned as joint tenants. ...

transfer of real property by legal means such as through inheritance. ...

Among other things. Inter alia is an ancient method of referring to statutes without reciting all of their provisions. ...

List of architectural design items needing to be corrected and resolved prior to finalizing a building design. ...

Not sure about something such as suspecting the truthfulness of statements made by a real estate agent. Stipulation in a deed giving the grantor some retained privilege or right in the ...

Financial standing of a debtor as a basis to pay obligations. ...

The total expenditures required to make a locality suitable for the designated purpose. An example is how much it would cost to build a shopping center on a lot. ...

The assessment sales ratio is a way of measuring the accuracy of a property’s assessed value when compared to the property’s selling price. This measurement gives the ...

Popular Real Estate Questions