Question: “I’ve done nothing to my house.  So, why did my assessment go up?”

Answer: Assessments can increase or decrease even if you have done nothing to your house because assessors look beyond each specific house to see what the Holliston real estate market, in general, is doing.

Massachusetts laws require assessors to value each property at 100% of “full and fair market value” each year.  Homes are valued primarily using what is known as the “sales approach.”  This means we look at sales in given period of time and use that data to determine how values changed.

For the current Fiscal Year 2023, we looked at sales taking place between July 1, 2020 through December 31, 2021.  Please note these dates mean we are reaching back 12 to 18 months before the January 1, 2022 valuation date and the July 1, 2022 start of this fiscal year.  This time lag is always a factor in assessing: When sales prices rise or fall, assessments lag 12-18 months behind.

For the upcoming Fiscal Year 2024 valuations, we will be looking primarily at sales in calendar year 2022.  During this time, the median (midpoint) sales price of a single-family home in Holliston was $450,000 in January, peaked at $545,000 in June, and ended the year in December at $453,800.  “Median sales price” means half of the sales were above this number and the other half of the sales were below it.

So, even if you have done absolutely nothing to improve your house, its value can rise and fall with the overall local real estate market.  To show you what I mean, I picked a Holliston house at random that has had no building permits issued since 2015.  Here’s how we valued this property (land and buildings):

• Fiscal Year 2020 (calendar year 2018 sales): $509,200
• Fiscal Year 2021 (calendar year 2019 sales): $555,900
• Fiscal Year 2022 (calendar year 2020 sales): $588,900
• Fiscal Year 2023 (calendar year 2021 sales): $648,300

Over this four-year period, this property’s value rose by 27% – based on sales of similar properties within Holliston.  During this same time period, the average single-family property in Holliston saw its value increase by 28%.  My random sample falls very close to this average.

With the real estate market slowing as mortgage interest rates rise, will you see your values fall?  Well, while the median sales prices of single-family homes in Holliston may have dropped from last July ($530,000) through December ($453,800), they rose again in January, February and March to reach $662,000.  The last time media prices were that high was May-June of 2021.

The cause of this increase? Even with higher mortgage interest rates, some people still want to move into desirable communities.  But, the shortage of homes available for sale is keeping sale prices at higher levels.

Next Article: “I just turned 65.  Now, I’m entitled to have my property taxes reduced, right?”