Manhattan’s property market is crumbling. How might it impact your property tax bill on Long Island?
Over in Manhattan, the real estate market appears to be in free fall mode again. The bottom could be much further down than anticipated. How might this affect your property tax bills on Long Island? What do you need to do to ensure you aren’t being conned into paying too much tax?
Taking a Bite Out of the Big Apple
The real estate market in Manhattan is in real trouble. Flagship retailers have been pulling out in droves, leaving popular shopping strips looking like a ghost town set for Halloween. The latest data shows that residential home and condo prices and sales are nose diving too. In some cases they are down 16%. A painful fact if your home was worth $1M or more last year. Around 25% of the new condos built and marketed for sale since 2013 still remain unsold. Many big funds and famous NY real estate dealmakers are again losing multi million dollar properties to foreclosure for defaulting on debts and tax payments.
Falling property values should mean falling property tax bills, but don’t count on those reductions just being freely offered up by tax authorities.
On Long Island
According to Zillow, Suffolk and Nassau County property prices keep inching up and are forecast to continue to do so over the next 12 months. Although values stalled in Suffolk and dipped in Nassau in September 2019, Zillow predicts a 5.4% and 0.9% rise in prices through August 2020 respectively.
A part of this forecast may be due to more residents and businesses being lured to the island instead of Manhattan and Brooklyn. No one wants to buy into a tanking market, especially when it is still very pricey.
Rising prices and values mean even higher property tax bills. This comes on top of higher tax rates, and Nassau’s seriously criticized new property tax assessments which could already mean 50% larger tax bills for many residents.
With Hempstead and Oyster Bay’s pending budgets already looking to be highly controversial again, expect even more tough news ahead.
Conclusion
It’s safe to expect much higher tax bills next year if you live or own property on Long Island. The new assessments are full of flaws, and everyone should get help evaluating them and challenging them to avoid grossly overpaying. If softening of property prices does spread outwards from Manhattan to Long Island, you are still going to have to fight and appeal to get your reduction in property taxes.
Ask us for help and how much less you should be paying before the next tax grievance deadline.