San Mateo Co.: Property Values Hit $326B After Below-Average Year Yields 5.75% In Growth, Assessor Says

Bay City News

San Mateo County property values hit a record high of $325.5 billion at the start of this year, a 5.75% jump from last year's $307.8 billion valuation.

The increase in assessed values this year marks the 14th consecutive year when the value of San Mateo County's properties reached a record high, according to the Office of the Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder and Chief Elections Officer Mark Church.

Church's office credited the persistent increase in the value of county properties to new property developments, ownership changes, sales, inflation, foreclosures and state legislation impacting property tax law, such as Propositions 8 and 19, the office said in a Tuesday report.

The cities with the most growth in dollar assessment were South San Francisco at $2.31 billion, San Mateo at $1.76 billion, Burlingame at $1.36 billion, Daly City at $1.27 billion and Redwood City at $1.06 billion, the report noted. Those five cities represent about 43.8% of all growth in San Mateo County's 20 cities and unincorporated areas, the report added.

The 5.75% increase in value, however, is below the five-year assessment roll average of 6.43%, reflecting recent challenges in the real estate and financial markets, the report said. In its attempts to fight inflation, the Federal Reserve System's 2022 rate hikes increased mortgage rates, which suppressed both affordability and price growth, the report added.

Sales of single-family residences in 2023 decreased 17.4% to 3,292 units from 3,987 units in 2022, according to the San Mateo County Association of Realtors. The number of condominium sales also dropped 30.4% from 1,435 units in 2022 to 999 units in 2023, the association also said.

Nevertheless, property values still hit all-time highs, the report noted.

The median price of a single-family residence reached $2.3 million in May, according to the realtor association. The median condominium sold for $930,000 the same month, a jump from a December 2023 low of $826,500, the association also said.

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