While the overall assessed value of taxable properties on Oahu for 2024 didn’t skyrocket as it did a year ago, the city says the assessed value of homes in some parts of urban Honolulu are up by as much as 5%.
The city Real Property Assessment Division this week will distribute the 2024 real property tax assessment notices for the 2024-2025 tax year to property owners across Oahu.
The overall assessed value of taxable properties has increased from $343.07 billion in tax year 2023 to $345.77 billion in 2024. The more than $2.7 billion jump, a nearly 0.79 % increase, is largely occurring among island homes, according to city Department of Budget and Finance Director Andy Kawano.
“Of the $2.7 billion increase, the majority, or $1.9 billion, is from the residential class,” Kawano told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser via email.
But city data also reveals properties located in rural versus urban settings appear to be experiencing a valuations divide.
Overall, the assessed values of properties in Oahu’s “Residential ” classification increased from $230.04 billion in 2023 to $231.96 billion this year, an increase of about 0.83%.
But “Residential A” class properties — vacant land, condominiums, or property lacking a “home exemption” assessed at $1 million or more — decreased to $46.02 billion from $46.98 billion, a 2.04 % drop, the city says.
Other types of property classes report similar changes to tax assessments.
Those includes the “Hotel and Resort ” class, which increased by 0.06%, while the “Commercial ” class rose by 0.14% over last year. However, “Industrial” property values decreased by 0.67 %, the city says.
“These percentages represent island-wide classification totals and may not reflect the changes in valuation for an individual property or specific neighborhood as a whole, ” the city states in a news release.
Tom Yamachika, president of the Tax Foundation of Hawaii, sees the latest real property assessments for Oahu as less alarming than last year’s 12% overall increase.
“It was shocking last year because we had double-digit increases,” Yamachika told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “I think last year was an anomaly.”
This year, he added, “Most of the island is facing decreases except for urban Honolulu.”
“What it probably means is that the properties in urban Honolulu are being looked at by buyers as being a little bit more valuable,” he said, “and that in the rural communities and suburbs there’s a little bit less of a market demand.”
Regardless, he noted that impacts remain as property taxes increase.
“If taxes go up then on rented properties, the landlords are going to pass some or all of the tax on,” Yama chika said.
“But like I said, nothing shocking like last year.”
Meanwhile, the city Real Property Assessment Division announced Monday that the 2024 real property notices of assessment applicable to the 2024-2025 tax year will be distributed this week to property owners across Oahu.