Property values climb in city for fourth year

Property values in Milwaukee have increased about 4.5% citywide.

The new figures for 2017 include assessed values of residential properties in the city, which have increased approximately 3%, and apartments, which have jumped nearly 10%.

The increases mean the average home value in the City of Milwaukee is $103,000, up from $100,000 in 2016, an official said. That figure includes single-family homes, as well as two- and three-family homes.

Commercial real estate property values have increased by about 5%, and condominium assessments have climbed more than 4%.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said the news was “very positive,” adding the city has now seen overall property value increases for the past four years.

“It’s been a long road, and we’re still fighting back from the Great Recession,” Barrett said Thursday. “We still have a ways to go, clearly, to get back to where we were in 2008 when we were at our peak. But I much prefer these numbers in black ink than in red ink.”

The assessed values for nearly 67% of properties in the city have increased, while assessments for about 25% of properties have decreased. Some 8% of properties saw no change from 2016 to 2017.

“If we can continue at this trend, I will be very pleased,” Barrett said. “If we see a fifth year with assessments growing greater than this year, that will be a very significant step.”

The areas of the city that saw the biggest property value increases include the far south side (Ald. Mark Borkowski’s District 11), Bay View (Ald. Tony Zielinski’s District 14) and the downtown area (Ald. Robert Bauman’s District 4). Overall, 12 of the city’s 15 aldermanic districts saw residential property values increase.

“In the central city, we’re still fighting to get back into positive changes,” Barrett said.

Despite the citywide increase, there were three districts that saw a decrease in property values. Those include Common Council President Ashanti Hamilton’s north side District 1, Ald. Khalif Rainey’s District 7 in the Sherman Park area and Ald. Russell W. Stamper II’s District 15 on the near west side.

Those districts were hit especially hard by the foreclosure crisis, the mayor said.

“For a majority of the city, we’ve turned the corner,” Barrett said. “We still have some areas of the city where we have to continue to work to have those property values recover.”

Notices were mailed to property owners earlier this month.

The last day for owners to file objections to the new assessments is May 15.

Increased assessments do not necessarily mean that taxes on those properties will increase, officials say.