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

Standard days when an organization is open and conducts business. Business days exclude weekends and holidays. ...

Short-term leases are leases that run its completion in a faster time than regular ones.In real estate, short term-leases usually refer to temporary housing; that is: rent.The length of a ...

Act occurring after the fact. ...

Through the master plan definition, we can understand it’s a plan describing both through narrative and maps the overall land use of a designated urban area. It includes both present ...

Also called an installment sales contract or contract foe feed. A type of creative financing in real estate allowing the seller to finance a buyer by allowing him or her to make a down ...

Expenditures paid for in advance such as property insurance, rent, and interest. Prepaid expenses are not used or consumed until later. They are typically of a recurring nature. ...

An acre is defined as a land unit that is commonly used in the US customary and imperial systems of 66 by 660 feet (one chain by one furlong). An acre is a measure of volume used in many ...

The method for splitting a commission between a registered real estate sales person and the sponsoring real estate broker, and between the listing broker and the selling broker, or any ...

So, after you discovered what a Home Appraisal is, you want to know more about the person responsible for it: the famous Appraiser.Good for you!The Appraiser is a certified individual ...

Popular Real Estate Questions