L.A. County Property Assessments Increase Third Straight Year

Written by Matthew Sanderson

The assessed value of properties in Los Angeles County jumped by 4.66 percent over the past year, marking the third consecutive annual increase, according to figures released July 17 by the county Assessor's Office.

The Assessment Roll showed increases of 1.49 percent and 2.24 percent during the past two years, following four years of declines, according to the county. This year's roll put property valuation in the county at $1,129,994,170,579, an increase of $50.3 billion over last year.

"Strength in the residential real estate market was the largest single factor for the increase in roll value," Chief Deputy Assessor Santos Kreimann said. "As residential real estate values rebound, we have seen fewer homes in foreclosure and a significant increase in sales. Overall, this reflects greater confidence in the economic recovery." 

“Having added new internal controls and quality assurance measures, we’re now focused on updating our IT systems” added Kreimann. 

Many of these changes were cited in a recently completed audit by the State of California Board of Equalization (BOE). The BOE audit closely examined appraisal quality and practices throughout the Office of the Assessor. 

The complete report is available at http://assessor.lacounty.gov/extranet/pdf/AssessmentPracticesSurvey2013.pdf

- City News Service contributed to this report.