Today the Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder announced that for the first time in three years, property values in Riverside County are relatively stable compared to the previous year.
Overall, the value of assessed property in Riverside County declined by less than 1 percent for fiscal year 2012-13, a $299 million reduction in the countywide assessment roll. The roll for the fiscal year that begins July 1 closed with a total taxable value of $204.8 billion, relatively unchanged from $205.1 billion a year ago.
While Southwest Riverside County’s numbers appear strong compared to the rest of the county, Lake Elsinore, Wildomar and surrounding unincorporated area still show a lag.
According to the Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder figures released today, Lake Elsinore’s net taxable property values decreased by 2.28 percent for fiscal year 2012-13 compared to the previous year. Wildomar saw a 2.59 percent decrease for the same period, and surrounding unincorporated area dipped 3.77 percent.
The cities of Hemet, Canyon Lake and Temecula were the only Southwest Riverside Counties to see increases; the cities of Murrieta and Menifee both saw decreases below 1 percent. (See attached charts.)
Unincorporated area within Temecula’s sphere of influence was the only local Southwest Riverside County unincorporated area that saw an increase in value.
Overall, the housing market’s modest rebound over the last six months helped stabilize property values, Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder Larry Ward said. Other stabilizing factors include the decline in foreclosure-related activity –- which has helped to substantiate property values –- as well as slightly increased values for commercial properties, specifically apartments and mega-warehouses, Ward said.
No community had a change in value greater than 5 percent. The cities with the largest percentage increase are Eastvale at 3.29 percent and Indian Wells at 2.93 percent. Cities with the largest percentage decreases are Coachella and Desert Hot Springs, with decreases of 4.92 percent and 4.80 percent, respectively.
Under state law, temporary assessment reductions may be made based on a property’s value on Jan. 1 of each year.
Ward said his office continues to review individual properties for potential reductions in value, which can affect property taxes. The review is a critical process in completing the assessment roll.
Beginning July 15, Riverside County online at www.riversideacr.com. Properties can be searched by address or parcel number. Value-notice letters will not be mailed this year but owners without access to the Internet can call the Assessor’s office at (951) 955-6200 to obtain the information.
Applications are due by Sept. 4 and are available at www.riversideacr.com.
Property owners disputing the value set by the Assessor’s office can file an appeal with the Riverside County Clerk of the Board between July 2 and Nov. 30. An application for changed assessment (appeal) is available on the Clerk of the Board’s website at www.rivcocob.com.
For more information, visit www.riversideacr.com or call (951) 955-6200 or toll free (800) 746-1544.
If you believed all the BS a real estate agent fed you, I have a bridge to sell you. When I moved out here I was looking for a parcel of land in a quiet area and found what I was looking for, for a number of years I did look at empty fields and it was great now I look at tract homes all the way around me and its still OK. Many of the cities you mention in longing for their amenities were around when you moved into the area, maybe that's where you should have moved instead of expecting the people who already lived here to change for you.
Change is inevitable but it also must be properly planned. Take Lake Elsinore for example, you can't have an airport and off-road facility that you want to succeed and prosper and slap houses next to it. You can't build homes miles away from shopping centers without adequate roads to get there. Lastly you are not going to get the type of retailers you want when 1/2 the people leave for work before sun up and get home after dark.
All the individual ideas in the world will go nowhere as long as money is the deciding factor in the final decision. Politicians drool over the prospect of bringing in more, they use this accolade to move on up the ladder and out of the area. Developers same thing, they build what they can sell then move on. Most of these people are just visitors to the area. What is needed is someway using technology to involve the people that call these areas home to have more of the decision making in how their towns will look. A prime example of money talks and BS walks is the south post katrina, what got rebuilt was government buildings, major infrastructure, new home developments and businesses that generate tax revenue most of these paid for with government funds, all the old neighborhoods were largely forgotten and are still struggling to rebuild 7 years down the road.
Murrieta was never interested in annexing ALL of Wildomar. They only wanted to take on the southern portion with new housing and retail development around the Clinton Keith area. While many of the people living in this area desired to be annexed into Murrieta, the people who wanted Wildomar to become a city fought like mad to defeat the idea. The lies and tactics they used to fight annexation engendered a great deal of disgust and bitterness, which is still with us today. I doubt it will dissipate and go away until the members of the city council who participated in those tactics are gone. Also, the County isn't interested in having us back. They supported Wildomar's incorporation because it made good financial sense to get the area off their books. Simply put, the Wildomar area was costing them more than the revenues it brought into the County. We need to do what is necessary to make the city work; to make it fiscally stable. That means giving up most or all of the pipe dreams and non-essential things we are currently overspending on - things that the current council are loath to give up.
I have got to laugh, you state that you moved here in the 90's and it sounds like you are shopping somewhere in Elsinore. The scary people you talk about were around when I moved out here in the 80's, could be why I moved to Wildomar. As for all the niceties such as sidewalks, street lights, crosswalks, neighborhood parks, a bustling downtown both my wife and I grew up in a communities that had all those things I from Santa Ana, she from South Gate look at them today, cities age and things change sometimes not for the better, although they are still vibrant communities in their own way. As for the Hispanic population in the area you have to remember they do pre-date the Anglo population and for the most part are on the lower end of the economic scale as they worked for primarily Anglo farm owners. You comments remind me of the neighborhood I grew up in, my parents being white middle class purchased a home in an all white neighborhood, within 2 years of moving in every single white family took flight because one black family moved in, some of these people left in the middle of the night. My mother and father lived in that house until they died and my sister still lives there, its was and in some ways will always be home. You talk about your house not increasing in value which make it an investment for a return, not home.
As I recall it Murrieta really wasn't interest in annexing any of Wildomar. I was the people in the new tract homes on the east side along with Windsong that wanted to be annexed because none of the hype about the community college and regional park came to be. The county even tried to have the rest of Wildomar declared a blighted area. Maybe we should have let them go and the rest of us could have stayed in the county. The services provided by the county were no worse and in some cases better than what we have now.
Certainly some development has been welcomed by most people, but the current city council and their ever-so-friendly developers want to change Wildomar into something it was never intended to be - a gold mine of poor, rapid development to provide the profits they all have their hearts set on making. One of my chief concerns is that along with incorproation came a group of investors and developers who wanted to convert Wildomar to something similar to what they had left behind in Orange County, San Diego or Los Angeles. You know, the very things that we wanted to escape from having to contend with...