By:  Benyamin Davidsons

Property values in New York City are up, notwithstanding the pandemic.  For fiscal year 2023, the total market value of all NYC property is up 8.2 percent above the past year, being worth an impressive total of $1.4 trillion as per the city’s Department of Finance. The total appraisal is not only above the last pandemic-stricken year, but also 2.1 percent above fiscal year 2021, before the pandemic hit.

As reported by Crain’s NY, total property taxes also rose, even though the tax rates haven’t changed.  The total market value of the collective taxable properties increased 8.1 percent, to $277.4 billion, for real estate activity between Jan. 6, 2021 and Jan. 5, 2022. In the last fiscal year, the collective market value of properties was down to $1.3 trillion, a 5.2% decrease from the year before, due to the Coronavirus pandemic and its effect on the market between 2020 and 2021.

For Class 1 properties, which include one- to three-family homes, the total market value rose 7.5 percent above fiscal 2021 and 6.7 percent over fiscal year 2022.  Class 2 properties, which include rental buildings, condominiums and coops, rose 8.7 percent over fiscal 2022, but is still 0.2% below the pre- pandemic fiscal year 2021.

Landlords criticized the assessments as a base effort to raise taxes while owners are still ailing from revenue lost from the pandemic.   “If city elected officials want safe, clean, affordable housing, then they need to stop bleeding renters and their housing providers dry with outrageous property tax increases,” said Jay Martin, executive director of the Community Housing Improvement Program.

“We need to be providing the people in these communities more help, not more costs that will lead to higher rents or worse housing,” agreed Ann Korchak, president of the Small Property Owners of New York.  City Finance Commissioner Preston Niblack commented to say that home prices and rents are rising again, showing that the residential market is recovering.

As per Crain’s, class 3 properties, which include utility companies, marked the biggest jump in value over fiscal 2021, with a 13.8 percent increase.  Class 4 properties, including office, retail and hotel properties, had their assessments rise by 11.7 percent over the previous fiscal year, but the value is still 7.7 percent below pre-pandemic levels. Hotel values fared the worst, down 20 percent below pre-pandemic values.

“Office and retail leasing activity and hotel occupancies have picked up in recent quarters, but overall office occupancy remains down,” Niblack commented. “The lack of workers and visitors means that retail stores and hotels continue to suffer.”