Valuation
For residential properties, Colorado law requires assessors use the "market" approach to valuation.
The market approach means the Assessor's Office reviews all of the sales of residential properties, analyzes the relationship between the property's characteristics and it's selling price, and then uses that analysis to determine the value for all market-rate residential properties.
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The 2025 value of your property is the market value of your home - or what it would have sold for - on June 30, 2024.
UNIVERSE OF SALES
All qualified real estate sales during data collection period
Valuation Process
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MASS APPRAISAL
Statistical analysis of sales to determine relationship between price & characteristics
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VALUATION EQUATION
Statistically significant property characteristics are used in equation to evaluate all properties
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PROPERTY VALUE
Property values are calculated using the final valuation equation
The Assessor's Office is an elected position whose responsibilities include discovering, listing, classifying, and valuing all property located within the county. They are required to reappraise, or revalue, all properties every other year, during the odd years, and mail out Notices of Valuation (NOV) by May 1 annually. The NOV is to inform you of any increase or decrease in your property valuation and advise you of your right to appeal.
You can search and view your Notice of Valuation online through the NOV Viewer with your Property Schedule Number. This online application includes two very helpful tools: a Calculation Ladder, which shows the actual mathematical equation used to value your property, and list of comparable home sales during the time period.
How are Valuations Established?
Valuation Time Period
In order to value Summit County’s 30,000+ residential properties, the Assessor’s Office utilizes standardized mass appraisal techniques. Modern mass appraisal techniques provide accurate value for most all properties. The Summit County Assessor's Office uses multiple regression analysis (MRA) which estimates the value of all sold and unsold properties based on sales. You can view lists of all the sales used to establish value on the Assessor’s Current Market Sales Data page.
MRA provides consistent values across a broad range of properties on the County’s tax roll because the same equation is applied to all. Since the Assessor's Office provides the value of a property for the ultimate purpose of levying and collecting property taxes in proportion to the property's value, it’s important that values are fair and equitable. You can read more about the Assessor's analysis on their Real Property Valuation page.
Property Characteristics
State law requires the Assessor's Office to analyze sales from a given "time period" - specifically 18-60 months prior to June 30th of the even-numbered year preceding the year of the reappraisal. Essentially, that means for the 2025 reappraisal, the Assessor's Office could only analyze and consider home sales between July 1, 2019 and June 30, 2024.
The real estate market before the June 30, 2024 cutoff date was active for most of those years, with properties selling quickly and at high prices, before slowing down slightly in more recent months. These are the sales that according to state law, must be used to value other properties right now.
Residential valuations are based on market sales, so increases directly reflect recent changes in the local real estate market. During the pandemic, Summit County properties were in very high demand and very low supply, which is what drove sale prices so high.
Mass Appraisal
The value of a residential property is directly related to the characteristics of a property: location, size, quality of the build, fixtures, floorplan and other features.. Typically, buyers in the real estate will pay more or less for a property based on what they consider to be desirable characteristics, and the Assessor's valuations are based on those sales.
Since a property's value is directly linked to its characteristics, inaccurate property characteristics or other factors can cause properties to be overvalued or undervalued. You can confirm the characteristics for your property with the Assessor’s Office. Not all characteristics end up being significant to the value of a property each year, depending on the real estate market.