Detroit home values have an increased more 30% on average over the past year, according to data the city released Tuesday.
The increases — and home values — varied widely from neighborhood to neighborhood. But nearly every Detroit neighborhood saw its home values grow. They’re also up 60% since 2018, and the city has finally recovered most of the value its housing stock lost during a steep downtown starting around 2012.
Mayor Mike Duggan said that shows improving conditions across the city, and the building of generational wealth. “This is the kind of map that we want,” he said. “Not something that says, Downtown and Midtown went up, and everything else went down, but [from] one end of the city to another, we saw property values grow.”
But Duggan said Detroiters shouldn’t see major jumps in their property tax bills. That’s because the Michigan Constitution puts a cap on how much property taxes can go up year-to-year — either 5% or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower. Most Detroit homeowners should see about a 3% property tax increase this year, Duggan said.
For years, Detroit over-assessed and over-taxed many residential property owners. Duggan said that stopped when his administration fully took over from after emergency management in 2014 and overhauled the city assessor's office. He bristled at claims that the city continues to over-assess some properties, calling it “nonsense.”
“No one is being over-taxed,” said Alvin Horhn, Detroit’s chief assessor. “This run of increased assessments, this run of increased market value, is not leading to a run in increased taxes.”
Nonetheless, Detroiters who want to challenge their property assessments do have an opportunity to do so. Property owners can request an assessor’s review from February 1-22. For those who wish to formally challenge their assessment, the city’s board of review will begin hearing appeals on March 8.
Some Detroit property owners who were over-taxed during the period when the city indisputably over-assessed properties are still demanding compensation from the city. Duggan has resisted such efforts in the past, but new Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield has revived calls for some form of reparations.
Duggan said Tuesday that he’s hopeful “the council leadership and in the administration will reach a solution that'll work for everybody.”
