Alexandria’s residential real estate has been going strong through the pandemic, with relatively few houses for sale and high interest from buyers. The combination has pushed sales prices, and assessed valuations, up this year.
And that means homeowners in Alexandria may pay a little bit more in real estate taxes this year. Tuesday night, the City Council will discuss property assessments for residential and commercial real estate. Assessments will be mailed to residents on Wednesday.
Commercial properties haven’t done nearly as well — offices are empty and businesses are many businesses struggling to remain afloat in a pandemic that has last longer than most people thought it would.
Still, real estate assessments are largely keeping pace with previous years, buoyed in part by condos and apartment buildings and ever-increasing value of properties.
“While the residential real estate market in Alexandria has remained strong, even in the pandemic, the commercial real estate market has taken a body blow. Residential real estate in Alexandria was projected to grow by 3.6%, which is a healthy rate of growth, not unlike growth in recent years. On the commercial side, our valuations are expected to drop by 4.69%, the largest drop in decades,” Mayor Justin Wilson explained in his newsletter earlier this month.
City of Alexandria
Commercial property value is mostly down this year, while residential property values increased.
Residential real estate, including single-family homes, rowhomes, condos, townhomes and duplexes, will increase 6.02 percent on average. Of built properties, condos will increase the most, by 12.06 percent. (Vacant residential land, which is scant, will increase by more than 22 percent.)
In 2020, residential real estate taxes brought in $24.55 million. In 2021, this is expected to increase to $26.03 million, a difference of $1.48 million.
The value of Alexandria homes is continuing to increase. The number of homes valued at less than $500,000 continues to decrease, while properties valued at more than $1 million continues to increase.
City of Alexandria
Commercial Tax Base Declines in Most Sectors
Commercial real estate is suffering, however and will not increase nearly as much as it has in past years.
There are major losses in revenue from hotels and shopping centers, but there are increases in revenue from commercial mid-rise and high-rise apartment buildings. At the end of it, Alexandria will collect $1.14 million more than last year from commercial real estate — a total of $43.19 million.
“As in 2019 and 2020, the rate of change to the total 2021 residential tax base outpaced that of the commercial tax base. Most commercial property classes saw a decrease in assessment for 2021. Multi-family rental apartments and warehouse/industrial were the only commercial property classes to increase,” according to a City of Alexandria commercial property analysis. “The COVID-19 pandemic has reduced demand for general commercial properties throughout the City. Vacancy rates have increased and asking rent has decreased in all of the Alexandria submarkets.”
City of Alexadria
