Flagler County's property values still have a way to go to match the pre-2008 recession high.
BUNNELL — Property values in Flagler County continue their climb back to where they were before the great recession, but they’re not there yet.
According to figures released Wednesday by Flagler County Property Appraiser Jay Gardner, the county’s estimate of taxable property for 2018 is $8.47 billion, a 7.45 percent increase over the 2017 figure.
A total of $202,318,499 in new construction was added to the tax rolls by the first of the year.
“We’re excited about the increase in values,” Gardner said Wednesday.
He said real estate is doing well in Flagler County, calling it a buyer’s market. That’s important because homes comprise most of the property value in the county, which is a point of vulnerability.
“The economy really kills us when it crashes,” Gardner said.
The county’s taxable values rose by more than 38 percent in 2006, peaking at $12.2 billion at the start of 2007. But the next year, they collapsed to $6.2 billion. What followed were five years of negative growth, only showing its first positive sign in 2013 when there was an increase of 0.8 percent.
Since then, property values have been climbing annually by 5 to 7 percent, with this year’s being the greatest.
Of all municipalities in Flagler County, Bunnell saw the largest percentage increase in the past year, 9.13 percent.
Gardner attributed that in part to the construction of a large storage facility, but mostly due to a change in ownership at the Grand Reserve planned community, which triggered a reassessment.
Increases in taxable property values are limited to 10 percent per year no matter how much the market value increases. But the change brought non-homestead properties up to their full value.
In addition, Grand Reserve has seen increased construction of new homes.
The city of Palm Coast saw a 7.86 percent increase over 2017, with an estimated taxable value of $4.98 billion. The city saw $115,717,158 in taxable value from new construction.
Flagler Beach saw a 3.8 percent increase, with an estimated taxable value of $643 million. New construction in the city produced a taxable value of $1,782,987.
Beverly Beach saw a 5.96 percent increase, with an estimated taxable value of $71 million. The town saw $1,766,572 in taxable value from new construction.
Not surprisingly, the smallest increase in taxable value over 2017 was in Marineland. The town saw a change of 1.03 percent, bringing the value to $5,042,000. New construction accounted for $101,446 of that.