Beat it by $1 billion: Vail Valley real estate tops precession peak
what we’re worth
Here’s a look at the numbers for 2017 valuations compared with the last appraisal in 2015.
• Total value
From: $32,504,009,220.
To: $36,686,684,360.
Increase: 12.9 percent.
• Residential value
From $29,080,201,000.
To: $32,394,961,000.
Increase: 11.4 percent.
• From the peak
Total value in 2009: $35,487,867,000.
Total value in 2017: $36,686,684,360.
Source: Eagle County Assessor’s Office
EAGLE — Eagle County’s real estate is worth more now than it was before the recession.
The latest county-wide real estate appraisal found the total market value of Eagle County’s real estate jumped 12.9 percent, with residential value jumping 11.4 percent throughout the last appraisal numbers that came out in 2015.
Eagle County Assessor Mark Chapin released the county’s latest data Monday.
“We’re back where we were pre-recession. Our market is recovered,” Chapin said.
“We’re back where we were pre-recession. Our market is recovered. … If you can find something priced between $250,000 and $500,000, that’s where it’s going to be.”Mark ChapinAssessor, Eagle County
Support Local Journalism
Residential property values are around $1 billion more than their pre-recession peak, according to the Assessor’s Office data released Monday, with residential property valued at $31.24 billion in 2009 and $32.39 billion in 2017.
The biggest increases are in Gypsum and Eagle, where the affordable housing is supposed to be.
“If you can find something priced between $250,000 and $500,000, that’s where it’s going to be,” Chapin said.
Properties tend to be closer to the half million-dollar mark than the lower price point in that range, Chapin said.
Support your local assessor
When you receive your property valuation notice later this week, please do not storm into the assessor’s office like French peasants storming the Bastille, bark at the nice people on the staff and demand, “If you think it’s worth that much, why don’t you buy it?”
It still happens, but not nearly as often as it did a few years ago.
“These days, people are generally cordial, but 20 to 25 years ago, it could be a rough crowd,” Chapin said.
Back in the 1990s, Eagle County property values were skyrocketing by as much as 20 percent per year, which was great if you were a real estate developer or speculator but whacked you in the wallet if you lived here.
As your property values go up, so do your property taxes.
The assessor’s office has done all kinds of outreach and education during the past several appraisal processes.
“The process is more open now, and people understand more clearly how it works,” Chapin said.
Even when he’s standing in the cross-hairs of a reappraisal year, Chapin said he still loves what he does for a living.
Second homes
In Eagle County, 45 percent of that residential property value is second homes. Those tend to be properties worth more than $2 million each and comprise a significant part of the county’s residential property values.
Also, around 60 percent of Eagle County’s property tax burden will be paid by those second-home owners.
High-end homes did not see the price increases the local market did. They also did not see their values plummet as hard when the recession hit, Chapin said.
High-end hotels
A significant part of the overall increase was the number of local hotels sold in Vail, something which has not happened in many years:
• Park Hyatt, $145 million
• Four Seasons, $121 million
• Cascade, $90 million
• Vail Holiday Inn, $22.4 million
How it works
In Colorado, properties are re-appraised every two years in an odd-numbered year.
The data for this one was gathered during the 18 months between January 1, 2015, and June 30, 2016.
The appraisal is based on market sales that occurred within that time and other related market information, such as rents on commercial property, Chapin said.
Your property value is up, but your property tax rate is down from 7.96 percent to 7.2 percent, about a 10.5 percent decrease.
Commercial property owners will still pay at a 29 percent rate, under Colorado’s tax structure.
That’s because under Colorado’s Gallagher Amendment, residential property taxes are limited to 45 percent of all property taxes in Colorado. Commercial and every other kind of property cover the other 55 percent.
To keep that equation balanced, residential property taxes will decline in 2018, but not as much as anticipated, Chapin said.
Pay where you live
Eagle County voters have already seen a property tax hit from the four tax increases they approved last year:
• Eagle County school district.
• Eagle County ambulance district.
• Eagle River Fire protection district.
• Gypsum Fire protection district.
Staff Writer Randy Wyrick can be reached at 970-748-2935 and rwyrick@vaildaily.com.
