Lake property values could be downhill for awhileCROWN POINT | Lake County property values may not recover soon from the 15 percent slide reported this week by the Lake County auditor's office.
Property owners can expect a future drop in the county's assessed value given the collapse that Winfield Township Assessor John Curley said he has seen in his community, one of the county's hottest housing markets until recent months.
"I can't say new construction is down here because there is none," he said. "It's on the floor."
County Auditor Peggy Katona reported almost $1.1 billion in lost value since last year in the town of Winfield as well as the Tri-Town area of Dyer, St. John and Schererville. They have led the county in new construction over the last decade.
The loss is part of virtually an across-the-board devaluation of land, housing, industry, businesses, cars and heavy equipment across the county. Whiting, home of the expanding BP refinery, was the only municipality to show growth.
State and local officials say this year's assessed value numbers are somewhat misleading because they are a two-year-old snapshot of the real estate market, in this case the year of 2007, just before its fall. The 15 percent loss reported this week represents a new tax break for homeowners, subtracting from the value officials attach to the county's approximately 145,000 homesteads.
Only next year's assessed value numbers will capture the housing downturn.
"Some builders are trying to dump vacant homes because the interest they are paying is eating them alive," Curley said
Builders are dropping vacant house price by $10,000 or more, but "there are still a few still unsold after two years, and those builders are hurting," he said.
Local government officials worry declining assessed values are devastating not only to homeowners trying to sell, but also cities and towns relying on revenue almost exclusively on taxes pegged to the worth of their residents' homesteads. Local governments customarily preserve their cash flow by raising tax rates.
Hobart Township Assessor Julia Wolek said an 18 percent to 21 percent drop in values in Hobart and Lake Station isn't bad in light of last year's flood damage.
"I've looked at some houses near the river, and they were completely gutted out and unlivable," Wolek said, adding those residents are receiving temporary discounts on their home values.
Todd Kleven, vice president of Crown Point-based Hawk Development Corp., said local government officials must cut public spending.
"They are going to kill the housing market if they increase tax rates on people (who) can't afford mortgages as it stands today," he said.
Kleven praised tax breaks the state recently gave home builders as saving a number of home-building businesses.
Calumet Township Assessor Booker Blumenburg Jr. said he thinks property values have plummeted even more in Gary than the 4.46 percent the auditor's office announced.
"Our taxpayers are telling me the value of their property is dropping. Gary has probably lost more value than anyone else, and the loss seems like it is going to be long term," Blumenburg said.
http://www.nwi.com/articles/2009/06/28/ ... 80d312.txt
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