For anyone who does the property taxes math, housing is a good deal in the Tri-Cities region and Greeneville. Attom Data Solution’s 2021 Property Tax  Analysis illustrates the point.

Last year’s average property tax bill in the local counties included in the analysis was reflective of the price increases. But since Tennessee doesn’t lean as heavily on property taxes as other states, local property tax bills are considerably lower. That’s somewhat balanced by state and local sales taxes, which are among the highest in the nation.

According to Attom, “the average tax on a single-family home in the U.S. increased at the smallest pace in five years. Last year’s average U.S. property tax bill nationwide was $3,785, up from $3,719 in 2019. In Tennessee it was $1,568, up from $1,202.

Here how the average tax bill comparisons look for local counties, according to Attom’s analysis:

Carter – $871, up from $663

Greene – $749, up from $524

Hawkins – $836, up from $593

Sullivan – $1,057, up from $966

Washington Co. TN – $1,410, up from $1,134

Washington Co. VA – $1,089, up from $1,049

The U.S. effective tax rate last year was 0.86%, down from 1.1%. In Tennessee, it was 0.45%, down from 0.59%.

Here’s how the NE Tenn. effective rates compare:

Carter – 0.43%, down from 0.61%

Greene – 0.35%, down from 0.54%

Hawkins – 0.43%, down from 0.59%

Sullivan – 0.42%, down from 0.70%

Washington Co. TN – 0.47%, down from 0.69%

Washington Co. VA – 0.46%, down from 0.55%.

Attom analyzed property tax data collected from county tax assessor offices nationwide at the state, metro, and county levels, along with estimated market values of single-family homes calculated using an automated valuation model (AVM). The effective tax rate was the average annual property tax expressed as a percentage of the average estimated market value of homes in each geographic area.

“It’s hardly a surprise that property taxes increased in 2021, a year when home prices across the country rose by 16%,” said Rick Sharga, executive vice president of market intelligence at ATTOM. “In fact, the real surprise is that the tax increases weren’t higher, which suggests that tax assessments are lagging behind rising property values and will likely continue to go up in 2022.”

In 2021, effective rates declined even as total taxes rose because home values went up far faster than taxes around the country. Median values spiked by more than 10% in most of the U.S. as a glut of home buyers kept chasing a tight supply of homes, pushing the nation’s decade-long market boom onward. The local median price was up 16.8% last year. The buyer surge continued as home-mortgage rates hovered around 3%, and many households continued to trade congested areas more susceptible to the two-year-old Coronavirus pandemic for the relative safety and larger spaces offered by houses and condominiums.

Graphic for report: View 2021 Property Taxes by County Heat Map

Categories: REAL ESTATE