Higher property value? Taxes? What to know about Asheville-Buncombe reappraisal 2025
ASHEVILLE - As the county looks to hire more staff dedicated to Buncombe County property tax assessments, the assessment office is also ramping up to reappraise the county's homes and properties after a recent steep rise in real estate prices.
Between 2021 and 2023 in Buncombe County, the median home sale price increased $75,000. Meanwhile the median home price in Asheville has increased 53% since 2019, surging to a record median of $485,000 at the end of 2023.
One of the most common questions the Buncombe County Tax Assessors office receives on the topic of reappraisals is: "How is this going to affect me?"
Buncombe County Tax Assessor Keith Miller's answer is: "If you're a resident of Buncombe County, you will be affected."
Miller expects everyone, from every price bracket, to see property assessment increases in the 2025 reappraisal.
However, that impact will look different based on construction quality and market forces, Miller said. One of the most important factors tends to be geography, with a property in Asheville likely to see a different evaluation than one in Swannanoa.
Two homes currently listed on Zillow demonstrate the evaluation discrepancy. Both are around 2,000 square-feet with four bedrooms. But while the home off of Flint Street in Asheville is currently listed at $670,000, the Swannanoa home, which is slightly larger and has an additional bathroom, is listed at $625,000. The homes were appraised in 2021 at $441,500 and $376,800, respectively.
"People have doubled values in their houses, in some cases, so they have gained a lot of equity," Miller said of reappraising after the last four years.
Possible tax increases? It's complicated
Many property owners end up worrying that increased appraisals would immediately lead to increased taxes, but such an outcome is more complicated, Miller explained.
While the tax assessment office does affect how much is taxed, tax rates are determined by the Buncombe County Commissioners, not Miller's office.
"Dependent on more of where that tax rate lands — your tax bill might even go down," Miller said, noting that tax rates will be decided after assessments are released in early 2025.
When can Buncombe reappraise?
Recent Citizen Times coverage indicated that some homes in the luxury market sold well above their assessed price. The most expensive listing in the county — the $25 million Deerhaven Gardens — saw an increased appraisal of $3 million after reporting on the topic. Many of the sales came after the spike in home prices.
Miller pointed to a Biltmore Forest home that recently hit the housing market for $5.8 million at 316 South Braeside Court.
Before listing in late 2023, the home most recently sold for $2.8 million in 2021 where the home was tax appraised just below its market value at nearly $2.7 million, according to Buncombe County property records.
County assessors are bound by North Carolina General Statutes, which limits assessors to reassessing properties to an appraisal year, Miller said.
Buncombe has reappraisals every four years, a more frequent period than the state mandated eight-year appraisal periods.
However, there are other conditions that effect when the county can reappraise.
If the assessors office learns of a physical or legal change in a property, they can reassess the building, Miller said.
"Now, sometimes (a house) will sell and we'll learn new information. We will change the value because we learned that house has a basement, and nobody ever told us it had a basement," Miller said, noting that increases are limited to the most recent assessment year's schedule of values.
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Luxury market appraisals?
The mountains of North Carolina have one of the most plentiful luxury home markets. At the end of 2023, Buncombe County had more months of inventory for homes priced over $1 million than in any other price bracket.
The county tax assessment office has now hired a dedicated officer to pursue tax assessments for luxury homes — a market Miller said is difficult to appraise.
Appraisers often do their "best job" with "typical" homes of around 1,500 square-feet and average quality construction material, Miller said. Within the market, the lower-end and highest-end homes are some of the more difficult for the county to appraise.
Miller pointed to evaluating some aspects of luxury homes — like meticulously designed yardwork, imported wood from another country or a dedicated tunnel for a dog — as especially difficult.
"You know, even if I saw it, do we have the staff that's going to really know what to do with that?" Miller said, noting that oftentimes assessors don't see the interior features of luxury homes.
Now, a dedicated county employee, one with previous experience in the field, will be assigned to research and assess the values of Buncombe County's many luxury homes.
"We won't mix in any other sort of groups of value, just over a million dollars," Miller said of the new luxury home assessor position. "That's what they're going to focus on."
Miller also pointed to the fact that many buy directly in cash when purchasing a multi-million dollar home and often buy based on want — not need.
"There's a point luxury homes have diminishing value," Miller said.
Looking to learn more? Future timeline
Currently, the Buncombe County Tax Department is working with local organizations to help educate taxpayers on appealing property assessments and learning what property assessments are. The office also offers tax education sessions on a by request basis, Miller said.
Though there is a little over a year until the process is complete, Miller and the Buncombe County Tax Department are looking at the following timeline for Reappraisal 2025:
April 2023-December 2024: Some door-to-door visits by Buncombe County Assessment staff.
Jan. 1 2025: Effective date for 2025 reappraisal.
Jan. 30 2025: Notice of assessed value mailed to property owners.
January to April 2025: Property owners may appeal the 2025 assessed value.
April 2025: Board of Equalization and Review will adjourn and close the appeal period for 2025.
June 30, 2025: Fiscal Year 2026 tax rate established by the Board of Commissioners.
August 2025: Collector will mail tax notice to property owners.
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Will Hofmann is the Growth and Development Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Got a tip? Email him at WHofmann@citizentimes.com.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Higher property values? What to know about Buncombe 2025 reappraisal
