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

Rule stating that the monthly mortgage payment, property taxes, and insurance should not exceed 25% of a family's monthly gross income, or about 35% for a Federal Housing Administration ...

Expecting or looking forward to something happening. ...

Federal agency that aids veterans of the armed forces. For example, it guarantees a home loan for up to a predetermined dollar amount or percentage of the loan balance, whichever is less. ...

3D Printed Homes are basically homes that were printed via 3D Printers. Though semantically the phrase is pretty obvious and straightforward, there’s a lot we need to contextualize ...

Anything that has physical substance and form, such as land and buildings. ...

Predetermined price for a contract that will be the same irrespective of the actual costs incurred to complete it. This contract is advantageous to the buyer because he knows beforehand ...

Permits oral evidence to augment a written contract in certain cases. ...

Also called "Grey Shell, "Bare Shell," and "Artic Shell," a Cold Shell could be described as the more radical version of a Vanilla Shell. So, what does precisely the Cold Shell definition ...

A wall or roof which extends beyond a lower wall. ...

Popular Real Estate Questions