Hunstville continues to thrive as one of the growing communities in progressive, metropolitan, forward thinking Alabama. If you are thinking of moving Huntsville, then you must take into account Huntsville’s property tax. Here we take a look at the trends in Huntsville property tax and how it compares to property tax in other major cities around the United States.
Huntsville Property
Currently, $132,500 is the median sales price for the real estate in Huntsville. Huntsville property taxes are based on a percentage of the assessed value of the property in Alabama, so the tax is always going to move in tandem with the sales price of the real estate in the area.
The current median sales price declined over the past quarter by $6,950, representing a 5Â percent decline. Year-over-year, this price decreased 1.9 percent. However, sales prices over the past five years have increased by a total of 23.7 percent. In short, the Huntsville real estate market has been booming and healthy, showing the proper increase in prices based upon the expectation of the American real estate marketplace at the time, at least over the past five years.
What to Expect in the Future
In the near future, real estate specialists believe that Huntsville will continue to show an overall increase in real estate sales prices along with the trend in the United States. Certain popular neighborhoods in Huntsville such as Grand Lake, The Reserve, Lake Forest, Cambridge, Providence, and Anslee Farms may experience a slightly outsized increase in the median price of real estate listings because of the relative exclusivity of the properties there.
Property Tax in Huntsville
All real estate in Alabama including Huntsville has its property tax calculated by the same equation. This equation has three factors of property classification, millage rate and exemptions.
A property can have one of four different classes in Alabama. Most residential properties will fall under a class III sectioning with an assessment percentage of 10%. The appraised value multiplied by the property classification assessment percentage equals the assessed value.
This assessed value is then multiplied by the millage rate to achieve the unadjusted tax bill. After this unadjusted tax bill is calculated, a homeowner will have the opportunity to determine any exemptions in the same way that a business or a personal tax return lowers the amount of taxable income through certain exemptions.
Because Huntsville has one of the larger school districts in the state, its millage rate is higher than many of the other cities around it.
Calculation of  Huntsville Property Tax Based on Median Sale Price
To give an example of what one might pay for a Huntsville property tax bill, we can take the median sale price of $132,500 to determine a median property tax for a homeowner. Currently, a homeowner with an appraised value to match the sale price would pay around $463.00 in property tax per year.
Compared to other municipalities of similar size, Huntsville has a relatively low property tax assessment.
Comparison to Mobile, AL
As another center of commerce in Alabama, Mobile is perhaps the closest match to Huntsville in terms of median sale price, size of municipality and property tax assessment. Overall, Mobile is 16% cheaper to live in than Huntsville. Because these two cities are subject to the same property tax calculation in Alabama, one would expect Mobile to have a lower property tax median than Huntsville. This is exactly what we find, as the millage rate of Mobile is comparable to that of Huntsville, ensuring that Mobile will have its property tax base assessed at the same approximate percentage of real estate value as Huntsville. Partly because of the lower cost of living and the lower property tax in Mobile, housing in general is 45% less expensive in Mobile than in Huntsville.
Comparison to Los Angeles, CA
The overall cost of living is 69% more expensive in Los Angeles than in Huntsville. Overall, housing is 201% more expensive in Los Angeles than in Huntsville. The way that property tax is calculated in Los Angeles County is slightly different, with a fixed rate of 1.25% per $1000 of the sales price. If you were to purchase the same Huntsville median $132,500 property in Los Angeles, you would pay $1656.25, around four times as much. However, $132,500 is on the lowest tier of properties in Los Angeles and would not bring the same level of property.
Comparison to Seattle, WA
The way that property tax is assessed in Seattle is similar to Los Angeles because of its fixed rate calculation. In 2015, this fixed rate stood at $9.27 per $1000 in assessed value. The Mobile median property costing $132,500 would require a Seattle property tax payment of $1228.28. Housing overall is 171% more expensive in Seattle, meaning that the same $132,500 in Seattle would not go as far. The overall cost of living is 59% more expensive in Seattle than in Huntsville. Real estate experts approximate that an individual would need to make around 60% more in salary in order to move from Huntsville to Seattle and maintain the same quality of life.
The real estate landscape in Huntsville is definitely ripe for opportunity. Do not miss out on the low cost of getting into the Alabama housing market.
2 Point Highlight
Huntsville property tax is among the lowest in Hunstville continues to thrive as one of the growing communities in progressive, metropolitan, forward thinking Alabama.
Do not miss out on the low cost of getting into the Alabama housing market.
