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

Creates a lien against the mortgagor's property, but does not permit a lien against his or her personal assets. See also non recourse. ...

Correcting depreciation by making improvements at less cost than the value added. For example, the management of an aging strip shopping center makes a decision to refurbish the windows and ...

Expected period of benefit used to depreciate business property, plant, and equipment. The guidelines may be developed by the industry or Internal Revenue Service (IRS). ...

Also called real property. Anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings, walls, fences, and shrubs, as well as the rights to own or use them. It is distinguished from ...

maintenance procedures conducted to prevent later repairs and furthering a longer useful life. For example, many boilers and burners are cleaned and serviced each year before the winter ...

The portion of a structure providing the primary ground support. Foundations have a foundation wall forming a permanent below grade retaining wall. All modern foundations rely on concrete ...

Founded in 1969 and located in West Palm Beach, FL, NACORE has 3,273 members. Its members consist of anyone managing, administering and/or operating regional real estate departments for ...

The floor of a building closets to the building grade. Normally, the ground floor of a building is the first floor. A ground floor can sometimes be located between the first floor and the ...

The Principle of conformity states that conformity is achieved when all the entities or objects comply to the same standard, rules or laws. This creates a balance and stability between ...

Popular Real Estate Questions