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

property having an easement right through another adjoining property. The property through which the easement passes is considered to have the servient tenement. ...

Cubic unit of measure for a board one-foot long, one-foot wide and one inch thick, or 144 cubic inches. These measurements are not actual, since they are stated prior to finishing and ...

Device that places the ownership of real property with one or more trustees for security until the loan is paid by the debtor. It is used in place of a conventional mortgage contract in ...

Potential customer or client in which there is a realistic chance of making the sale for the product or service. An example is a prospective purchaser of real estate that the real estate ...

Under law, a warranty in effect even if not expressly stated. It provides that real property sold is warranted to be appropriate for sale and is in proper condition even if not stated, ...

Written document by an official granting agency and signed by an empowered official certifying that some specific act including the fulfillment of certain requirements has occurred on a ...

Judicially determined minimum selling price for auctioned property. For example, a judge rules that a foreclosed home may be sold for less than $200,000, ...

Rental due on the leased property is formulated as a percentage of sales volume. There is typically a minimum rental specified. An example is a retail store that pays rental based on its ...

Aerial photos are photographs taken by cameras mounted in aircraft or satellites. Aerial photos are more commonly used in the industrial Real Estate Market to get a better feel of a ...

Popular Real Estate Questions