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

(1) Revising the selling price of real property to reflect what it would be worth if typical financing was available. (2) How much real property would be sold for if all cash was involved. ...

Divider made of plasterboard or plaster used to partition rooms. A room is created by the walls surrounding it. ...

Width of a stair. ...

Personal property or real property that are passed on to heirs upon one's death. ...

Person's sole ownership of real property. ...

Upper layer of ground. ...

Principle stating that the joint tenants must have equal rights to possession of the whole property. ...

The ratio between a structure's total floor area and the total land area of the land upon which it is constructed. The floor area ratio definition is the ratio of the total amount of usable ...

Decision rendered by a court of law. ...

Popular Real Estate Questions