Assessed property values last year in Los Angeles County registered their first decline in 12 years according to a Thursday report from the Los Angeles County Assessor’s office.
The drop in the total assessed valuation for Los Angeles County fell less than 1 percent during 2008. The total was down about $1 billion, or 0.09 percent, to $1.108 trillion. It was the first decrease since 1996.
Assessor Rick Auerbach said the decline resulted from plummeting prices of recently sold homes, and lower reassessments for 334,000 single family residences and condominiums totaling $40 billion.
But those factors were offset by sales of long-held properties, the 2 percent per year increase allowed by Proposition 13 for properties that do not change ownership, and some new construction.
“Los Angeles County was not hit as hard as our neighbors, including many counties with far greater foreclosure rates,” Auerbach said.
The slight overall decline in assessed property valuations for Los Angeles County is somewhat welcome news for many cities, since it means property tax collections won’t go down as much as many feared.
But some areas of the county particularly the north Los Angeles County cities of Lancaster and Palmdale did get hit hard. Each city saw their assessed valuations fall about 15 percent as home values in some ZIP codes fell by as much as 70 percent in the past year.
Three other L.A. County cities saw declines greater than 7 percent: La Puente, Hawaiian Gardens and Norwalk.
However, cities with large industrial bases and few homes showed robust gains in assessed values last year.
Irwindale was the biggest gainer at 8.7 percent, thanks to new construction and the sale of major corporate properties, including the Miller Brewing Co. Vernon’s assessed valuation shot up 8.1 percent as several industrial properties changed hands last year. And the City of Industry saw significant new commercial and industrial developments added to the tax rolls.
Beverly Hills and Malibu rounded out the top five gainers, at 6.1 percent and 5.9 percent respectively.
The City of Los Angeles saw its assessed value increase 0.58 percent. At $434 billion, it is by far the highest-valued city in the county.
