A majority of Sedgwick County homeowners will see a sharp spike in their property values again this year.
The annual real estate report from the county appraiser’s office shows that 88% of the county’s homeowners will open their March 1 notice to find a rising valuation.
Valuation increases have been the norm for most county homeowners for the past decade, but this year the typical increase is reaching new heights. The median increase is 10.8% — the highest valuation change since at least 2010.
County appraiser Deanna Aspedon said the double-digit change is part of a ripple effect in the real estate market from the pandemic.
“While the market is not what it was then — and it has definitely slowed down — in reference to increasing, we are playing a little bit of catch-up,” Aspedon said. “We are aware it’s a very emotional thing for most residential property homeowners.”
Aspedon told county commissioners that when the pandemic began, the appraiser’s office took an “extremely conservative” approach to valuations. As the housing market exploded and properties sold quickly, appraisals stayed on the lower side of market values.
In Kansas, valuations are required to be within 10% of the actual sale price of a property.
Sale prices have climbed steadily in the past five years. In 2021, the median sale price of a residential property was $205,000. Last year, the median sale price was $264,100. Those sales prices have consistently landed above the appraiser’s valuations.
In 2024, about 91% of the 6,333 homes sold were above the county’s valuation. Last year, about 85% of the 5,007 homes sold were above the county’s valuation — even after the assessor’s office reported a nearly double-digit increase in home assessments.
“We’ve had some very steep increases just recently in the last several years,” Aspedon said. “We are trying to balance compliance, making sure that we’re in compliance with industry standards.”
Staying in compliance means change across the board for county homeowners. About 12% of homeowners will see a decrease in their property valuation — on average that decrease is 3.2%. The county’s report shows that no residential properties will maintain their current valuation this year.
By comparison, about 35% of commercial properties maintained their valuation while 13% decreased and 52% increased. The changes there are small, with the median increase coming in at 0.03% and the median decrease at 0.02%. Agricultural properties saw a similar division between increasing and decreasing values, with 23% of properties remaining the same.
“Yes, valuations have increased for individuals with residential properties, but pricing is what’s driving that,” said county commissioner Ryan Baty. “The market has driven that — I think that’s really important — and that’s validated by the sales transactions.”
Baty said after looking at the appraiser’s report, he’s already anticipating the phone calls to county commissioners and staff. Baty said during a recent commission meeting that he knows homeowners will see a rising valuation and think rising property taxes.
Local taxing jurisdictions like the county, city of Wichita and Wichita school district use the assessed value in their community to establish a mill rate that covers their budgets each year. Residential properties have an assessed value of 11.5% of their county valuation.
So if a mill rate stays the same, while property values rise, a taxing jurisdiction will bring in more money for its budget than it did the year before. A decrease in the mill rate may still mean an increase in a resident’s property tax, as many Wichita homeowners saw last year.
Baty urged the county and other local taxing authorities to significantly lower their mill rates this year in light of the jump in property values.
Last year the county set its mill rate at 27.5 mills to cover a $591 million budget. Baty said he expects this year’s mill rate “will be significantly less than that because we budget based on what we need, not what’s available.”
“I want to just encourage everyone else out there that’s making decisions like we’re going to be making to do the exact same thing, and lead responsibly and respectfully for the property owners in Sedgwick County,” he said.
