WALKER - The bad news is the number of property sales have dropped significantly the last year in Cass County. The good news is properties being sold are still appreciating in price when they do sell.
Assessor Steve Kuha brought this news to the county board Tuesday.
The number of certificates of real estate value (required for most valid land sales) filed with the county dropped from 1,581 in 2004 each succeeding year to 902 in 2007.
This year, 110 were filed in the first three months compared with 197 the first three months of 2007.
The average property sale prices have risen annually from $145,571 in 2003 to $207,569 in 2007, Kuha reported.
Prices people are paying are about 25 percent higher today than three years ago, he reported. Lakeshore and rural acreage are selling best today, he said.
On the dimmer side of property situations, Cass also has seen the number of foreclosures rise. There were 35 the first quarter of 2008, compared with 19 in first quarter 2007.
Of those, 13 involved adjustable rate mortgages this year, compared with five last year. There were 13 homesteads and 22 seasonal homes involved this year compared with 10 homesteads and nine cabins last year.
The highest number of foreclosed residences both years fell into the under $100,000 mortgage range or between $200,000 and $400,000 in mortgage amount. Two foreclosures had mortgages of more than $2 million this year.
While the county's estimated total market value was increasing by about 16 percent a year earlier this decade, the increase dropped to about 7.7 percent in the 2007 assessment for taxes payable in 2008 and will only go up by 1.8 percent in this year's assessment for taxes payable in 2009, Kuha said.
New construction valuation this year is down 28.3 percent from a year ago, he said.
Despite the rise in foreclosures, Cass County Auditor-Treasurer office has not seen an increase in properties forfeiting for non-payment of property taxes.
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