The Harris County Appraisal District in Texas reported the initial results of the state comptroller’s 2015 Property Value Study to its board of directors. The study found that overall the district achieved a median level of appraisal of 99 percent of market value. The target level is 100 percent. Almost 13,000 properties were reviewed for the study.
“The study is the only truly independent measurement of how accurate and fair HCAD’s work is, and I’m pleased to report that the results are excellent,” Chief Appraiser Sands Stiefer told The (Atascocita) Observer. “The study found that in 2015, we appraised residential property at a median level of 99 percent of market value. Commercial real property was appraised at a median of 100 percent and commercial personal property at 100 percent.
“The study found our values to be very uniform, with almost 75 percent of the property sampled having appraisal ratios within 10 percent of the median,” Stiefer added.
The Property Value Study is an extensive and independent review of the appraisal district’s appraisal performance by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. The goal of the review is to allow the state to reach an independent conclusion as to whether the district has complied with the professional standards of appraisal and state law.