December 31st, 2022 by WCBC Radio

Maryland property values jumped 20.6% over the last three years amid the pandemic’s strong market, the largest increase in recent years according to state tax officials. WBAL reports Maryland’s 2 million property accounts are split into three groups and appraised once every three years to help determine property taxes owed. The 2023 reassessment was the first for the nearly 800,000 commercial and residential properties for this group since the pandemic began, according to the State Department of Assessments and Taxation. The reassessment, based on 89,880 sales, saw an increase in value for 96.4% of the residential properties in the group.

Residential property values increased in all counties and Baltimore city for the fifth consecutive year. Department Director Michael Higgs noted increases were substantially higher than state averages on the Eastern Shore and in parts of western Maryland, which he attributed to people escaping more urban and suburban areas for the “relative peace and quiet of the countryside during COVID, when they could work remotely.”

Increases are phased-in over the next three years and decreases will be fully implemented in the 2023 tax year. About one-third of appeals at the first of the three levels of action result in some reduction in value.