Homeowners throughout Terrell and Kaufman County will soon receive appraisal notices, and many will see increases in the valuation of their property.

In Kaufman County, the median home market value will go up about 10%, according to the Kaufman County Central Appraisal District.

“All real property categories seem to be increasing,” said Coy Johnson, a deputy appraiser for the district. “The Real Estate Center at A&M shows that we’re 13-14% up (in median sales prices) from Jan. 1 of last year. Our stuff is holding pretty close to that across the board in all categories, whether it be commercial, vacant land or residential.”

The COVID-19 pandemic did not adversely affect the county’s residential and commercial real estate markets, according to the appraisal district.

The big picture showed consistent sales numbers in the first quarater of 2020, said Johnson. When the pandemic hit in March, the volume of transactions slowed as buyers and sellers dealt with concerns about virus transmission. However, as people settled in to the new normal during the summer months, “the market picked back up and kept going,” said Johnson. “It slowed, but the values never dropped off, just the volume.”

As far as the 13% gain in median sales prices, “There are certain places that are up more than that; there are certain places that are up less than that,” said Johnson.

“Everyone is experiencing some degree of growth. Obviously that northwest corner – Forney, Terrell, Crandall – is our primary growth driver right now. They’re probably seeing growth in the number of new homes as well as the rate of market appreciation,” he said.

A higher property valuation can lead to higher taxes for a homeowner. However, that isn’t automatically the case. In some cases, homeowners could actually see a lower tax bill even though their valuation went up. Besides valuations, the size of tax bills are tied to tax rates and, especially, the size of the tax levy. Property owners who choose to dispute their appraisals have until May 17 or 30 days after their notice is mailed, whichever is later.