Your property tax bill went up. Your home's estimated value went down. Both of those things happened across the country last year, and if it left you staring at your assessment notice wondering whether someone made a mistake, you're in good company.
No mistake. It's how the system is built. Here's what happened, why it happened, and what you can actually do about it.
The short answer
Property taxes are calculated from local budgets, not from your home's value alone. Your county decides how much money it needs to raise, then sets a rate that divides that amount across all the taxable property in the area. When values fall but the budget doesn't, the rate goes up — and your bill can rise even as your home is worth less on paper.
That's exactly what happened in 2025. According to ATTOM's annual property tax analysis, published in April 2026, the average single-family home was valued at $494,231 — down 1.7% from the year before — while the average tax bill rose 3% to $4,427.
What the 2025 numbers actually show
ATTOM looked at assessor data from 1,502 counties. Four figures tell the story:
- $396.8 billion in property taxes was levied on more than 89.6 million single-family homes — up 3.7% from 2024.
- $4,427 was the average single-family tax bill, a 3% increase year over year.
- $494,231 was the average estimated home value, down 1.7%.
- 0.9% was the national effective tax rate, up from 0.86% and the highest since 2020.
That last number is the one worth sitting with. The effective tax rate is simply your annual tax divided by your home's value. When the bill climbs and the value dips, that percentage moves in one direction only.
"Property taxes in 2025 demonstrate that tax bills reflect more than just home values," said Rob Barber, CEO at ATTOM, pointing to local government costs and shifting tax policies as the drivers.
Roughly half of the metro areas ATTOM studied — 111 out of 221 — saw average bills rise by more than the 3% national figure. Among metros with at least a million people, the sharpest increases were in Memphis (up 34%), Baltimore (up 27%), St. Louis (up 11%), Houston (up 10%) and Kansas City (up 8%).
Why your bill can rise when your value falls
Four things are usually at work. Any one of them can push your bill up on its own.
Your county starts with a budget, not with your house
Most local governments work backward. Schools, roads, emergency services and pensions get funded first, and the tax rate is set to cover the total. If the tax base shrinks because values dipped, the rate rises to raise the same dollars. Your home being worth less doesn't reduce what the fire department costs.
Assessed value is not market value
Your assessment is a snapshot taken on a specific date, often a year or more before the bill arrives, and many counties are still working through reassessments that caught up to the 2020–2024 run-up in prices. A market that cooled last year may not show up on your assessment for another cycle.
Voters and legislatures change the math
A school bond that passed two Novembers ago shows up in this year's bill. So does a new levy, a special district, or the expiration of a credit you'd been receiving without noticing.
Exemptions can quietly lapse
Homestead exemptions, senior freezes and veteran exemptions sometimes require re-filing, and a change in ownership, title or occupancy can reset them. A lapsed exemption can move a bill by hundreds or thousands of dollars with no change to your house at all.
Where the burden lands hardest
Geography matters more than almost anything else. The highest effective tax rates in 2025 were in Illinois (1.84%), New Jersey (1.58%), Vermont (1.4%), Connecticut (1.36%) and Ohio (1.32%). The lowest were in Hawaii (0.33%), Idaho (0.39%), Wyoming (0.4%), Arizona (0.43%) and Alabama (0.43%).
In dollar terms the spread is wider still. New Jersey's average bill of $10,499 was nearly ten times West Virginia's $1,081. At the county level, Westchester County, New York averaged $18,386 and Marin County, California averaged $16,745.
Two families with identically valued homes can pay wildly different amounts based on nothing but the county line between them.
Why you might feel this in your monthly payment
If you have a mortgage with an escrow account, you may never see the tax bill itself. Your servicer collects a portion each month, holds it, and pays the county on your behalf. When taxes rise — and especially when insurance rises at the same time — the account comes up short, and your monthly payment adjusts to cover both the shortfall and the higher ongoing amount.
Insurance is compounding the effect. Insurify projects the average annual home insurance premium will reach roughly $3,057 in 2026, a 4% increase following a 12% jump the year before. Two rising lines in the same account can move a monthly payment noticeably.
One thing worth knowing: federal Regulation X limits how servicers can collect a shortage. If the shortage is less than one month's escrow payment, the servicer may ask for it as a lump sum or spread it over at least twelve months. If it's equal to or more than one month's payment, the servicer cannot demand a lump sum — it has to let you repay in equal installments over at least twelve months. If you've been handed a single large figure, it's worth asking your servicer which category your shortage falls into.
Four things you can actually do
1. Read your assessment notice and find the deadline
Appeal windows are short and they start when the notice is mailed, not when you open it. Thirty to ninety days is common; some jurisdictions allow as few as fifteen. In several large states the deadline varies by county. Find your date before you decide anything else.
2. Consider appealing — the odds are better than most people assume
The National Taxpayers Union estimates that only about 3% to 5% of homeowners file an appeal, while somewhere between 30% and 50% of those who do file win some reduction. Appeals backed by real evidence — recent comparable sales, photos of condition issues, errors in the recorded square footage or bedroom count — do considerably better than appeals filed on principle.
Many jurisdictions let you file first and submit your evidence later, so a close deadline and an unfinished file aren't necessarily a reason to skip it. Rules differ, so ask your assessor's office how yours works before you decide.
3. Check every exemption you might qualify for
Homestead exemptions, senior exemptions, disability and veteran exemptions, and assessment caps all exist in some form in most states, and plenty of eligible homeowners have simply never applied. Some require annual renewal. Call your county assessor's office and ask them to read you the list — it's a short call and it's their job to answer it.
4. Ask about circuit breakers and deferrals
A circuit breaker caps property tax at a percentage of your income and refunds the excess. A deferral lets qualifying homeowners — typically 65 and older — postpone payment until the home is sold or transferred, with interest accruing against the property rather than coming out of monthly income. Availability, income limits and terms vary sharply by state, so your county assessor is again the right first call.
When the real question is whether the house still fits
Sometimes an appeal and an exemption solve it. Sometimes they trim a few hundred dollars off a number that was already more than the household could comfortably carry, and the honest conversation is a different one.
Property tax is only one line in the cost of owning. Insurance, maintenance, utilities and repairs sit alongside it, and none of them ask permission before going up. If that total has outgrown what the household brings in, it's worth looking at the full range of options rather than just the tax line.
Those options include downsizing, a HELOC or cash-out refinance, a reverse mortgage, a traditional sale, or a sale-leaseback. Each carries real tradeoffs. A HELOC or refinance requires qualifying credit and adds a monthly payment. A reverse mortgage has age requirements and leaves you responsible for taxes, insurance and upkeep. A traditional sale means moving. We lay these out side by side in our guide to eight home equity options for U.S. homeowners.
Where a sale-leaseback fits
A sale-leaseback is worth understanding specifically because of how it interacts with property taxes. You sell the home, receive your equity in cash, and stay in it as a renter. Property taxes, insurance and maintenance become the new owner's responsibility. The escrow shortfall letters stop arriving, because the escrow account is no longer yours.
Sell2Rent is a sale-leaseback platform built around that idea. Rather than handing you a single take-it-or-leave-it offer, we market your home to a nationwide network of vetted investors who compete for it, and you choose the offer you prefer. Investors in this market are buying a property with a resident already in place, which removes the vacancy risk they'd carry on an empty house — that's the reason the competition exists.
What that looks like in practice:
- $396.8 billion in property taxes was levied on more than 89.6 million single-family homes — up 3.7% from 2024.
- $4,427 was the average single-family tax bill, a 3% increase year over year.
- $494,231 was the average estimated home value, down 1.7%.
- 0.9% was the national effective tax rate, up from 0.86% and the highest since 2020.
Being straight about the tradeoffs: you're selling the home, so future appreciation belongs to the new owner, and Sell2Rent does not offer a buy-back option. Rent becomes your monthly housing cost in place of the mortgage, taxes and insurance you were carrying, and rent is subject to whatever your lease says about renewals. Whether that math works depends on your equity, your local rents and what you'd do with the cash — which is exactly why it's worth running the numbers before deciding anything.
To qualify, a property needs to be built in 1900 or later, sit on a lot of 1 acre or less, measure 7,000 square feet or less, carry at least 30% equity, and fall under a value of $1M–$2M depending on the market. You'll also need to be the verified legal owner. Sell2Rent operates nationwide.
Frequently asked questions
Why did my property taxes go up when my home value went down?
Because property taxes start from your local government's budget rather than your home's value. When the total taxable value in an area falls but the budget doesn't, the tax rate rises to raise the same amount of money. Nationally in 2025, average home values fell 1.7% while average tax bills rose 3%, pushing the effective tax rate to 0.9% from 0.86%.
What is an effective property tax rate?
It's your annual property tax expressed as a percentage of your home's estimated market value. A $4,427 bill on a $494,231 home works out to roughly 0.9%. It's the cleanest way to compare tax burdens between areas, because it strips out differences in home prices.
Is it worth appealing my property tax assessment?
It can be. The National Taxpayers Union estimates that 30% to 50% of homeowners who file an appeal win some reduction, yet only about 3% to 5% of homeowners file one. Appeals supported by evidence — comparable sales, condition problems, or factual errors in your property record — perform meaningfully better. Outcomes vary by jurisdiction and nothing is assured.
How long do I have to appeal?
It depends on where you live. Windows of 30 to 90 days from the date your notice was mailed are common, and some jurisdictions allow as few as 15 days. Several large states set deadlines county by county. Check your assessment notice or call your county assessor as soon as it arrives.
Why did my mortgage payment go up if my tax bill is paid by escrow?
Your servicer collects taxes and insurance monthly and pays them when due. When either rises, the account runs short and your payment is recalculated to cover the shortage plus the higher ongoing amount. Federal Regulation X caps how aggressively that shortage can be collected: if it equals or exceeds one month's escrow payment, your servicer cannot require a lump sum and must let you repay it in equal installments over at least twelve months.
Do renters pay property taxes?
Not directly. The property owner is responsible for the tax bill, along with insurance and maintenance. Renters pay rent, which the owner sets — and rent is its own cost that can change according to the terms of the lease. In a sale-leaseback, the lease signed at closing sets your rent for the lease term and spells out what happens at renewal.
Does selling my home mean I have to move?
Not necessarily. In a sale-leaseback you sell the home, receive your equity in cash, and remain in it as a renter under a lease negotiated at closing. You keep the same address, the same neighborhood and the same routine, without the property tax bill, insurance premium or maintenance costs that come with ownership.
Start with your own numbers
National averages are useful for context and useless for decisions. What matters is your bill, your equity and your local rents.
Our keep-it-or-sell calculator puts the real annual cost of staying — taxes included — next to what selling and renting would look like, in a couple of minutes and with no obligation. If you'd rather understand the process before running any numbers, see how it works or read through the homeowner FAQs. And if you're weighing several paths at once, our side-by-side comparison of ways to get cash from your home puts the costs and timelines next to each other.
Whatever you decide, start with the appeal deadline on your assessment notice. That one's time-sensitive, and it costs nothing to look.
This article is for general information only and is not tax, legal or financial advice. Property tax rules, exemption programs and appeal deadlines vary by state and county and change over time. Figures cited reflect the sources and dates named and are not predictions. Please consult a qualified tax professional, attorney or financial advisor about your specific situation.
Sources: ATTOM 2025 Property Tax Analysis (April 9, 2026); National Taxpayers Union; Insurify 2026 home insurance projections; Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Regulation X escrow requirements.
