2021 Real Estate Observations (Boston, Brockton, Lynn: apartments, renters, house)

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by msRB311

When I look at zillow, it forecasts a steep decline coming soon.

Zillow just bumped me 2% again this week. At this 2% per week rate, I'm going be rich by December.

[msRB311]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

Zillow just bumped me 2% again this week. At this 2% per week rate, I'm going be rich by December.

but if you look ahead does it show a decline in the forecast? Mine has gone up $11,701 in the past 30 days. Not sure why it's predicted to decline. Shows the same for all houses in my area.

[massnative71]

Mine went up 11% over the past year, and is projected to increase 12% over the next. Zillow is glamorized voodoo science though, when it comes to that.

[msRB311]

Yeah i'm not sure why mine is expected to go down according to zillow. The house next door to me just sold for $1.1M.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by msRB311

but if you look ahead does it show a decline in the forecast? Mine has gone up $11,701 in the past 30 days. Not sure why it's predicted to decline. Shows the same for all houses in my area.

Says 5% increase for my house. The most useless forecast ever.

[maclel]

Zillow estimates are a worthless piece of junk. Their forecasts have no local granularity. Basically every house in the Commowealth outside of Boston is expected to appreciate 10%. Their single-house estimates use listing price as the most important input, which is obviously ludicrous to anyone looking to use them as a fair value gauge.

[Taffee72]

My property's assessment by the city went up, even though I have not done any improvements in the last year. But the mill rate must've slightly decreased as my property taxes are $20 dollars less this year.

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by maclel

Zillow estimates are a worthless piece of junk. Their forecasts have no local granularity. Basically every house in the Commowealth outside of Boston is expected to appreciate 10%. Their single-house estimates use listing price as the most important input, which is obviously ludicrous to anyone looking to use them as a fair value gauge.

Originally Posted by Taffee72

My property's assessment by the city went up, even though I have not done any improvements in the last year. But the mill rate must've slightly decreased as my property taxes are $20 dollars less this year.

The tax assessment and the Zestimate are definitely not good indicators of the value of your property.

Your assessment probably went up because they probably bumped everyone's assessed value in your town/city as market values likely increased. I've definitely seen it happen where the mill rate will dip when assessments go up because the town is trying to keep the tax burden at a reasonable level.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by MikePRU

I've definitely seen it happen where the mill rate will dip when assessments go up because the town is trying to keep the tax burden at a reasonable level.

It's called Prop 2.5. The overall tax levy can only increase by so much a year.

[robr2]

Originally Posted by massnative71

It's called Prop 2.5. The overall tax levy can only increase by so much a year.

Lots of folks don't understand Prop 2-1/2. The town revenue from existing construction cannot increase by more than 2.5% per year. Improvements and new building is exempt from that. Cities and towns have to play around with the tax rate and valuation every year to meet the law.

Here in my town, we often have a decrease in tax rate with an increase in valuation and more than a 2.5% increase in individual taxes. That typically happens when a commercial building is torn down or empty (less valuation) or goes to a non-profit (ie local hospital.)