Population: 977,773
2013 total value of residential property: $63.6 billion (+1.0%)
Median 2013 county residential appraisal: $119,500
Typical residential property undervalued by: 10%
2013 residential property appeals: 16,157
How the county stacks up: In recent years Fulton County's typical residential appraisal has been a little high. But the AJC's analysis found it's 10 percent below market value this year, even though the county raised residential property values by a collective 1 percent.
The newspaper found county values trailed sale prices in most ZIP codes across the county. Chief Appraiser David Fitzgibbon believes the county’s values are more accurate than the AJC’s findings suggest. But he said the real estate market appears to be on the mend.
“I do think we’re seeing some value increases,” he said.
Fitzgibbon doesn’t anticipate widespread county value increases next year, though he thinks more substantial increases may be justified by 2015.
One thing he’d like to do: hire more appraisers and send them into the field to inspect more properties. He thinks the information the county has on many properties is out of date. Catching up with property improvements or correcting other erroneous information could mean some adjustments in values.
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