Lynn Kinne said it’s not surprising that — for the second year in a row — the Turnberry Two condominiums where she lives experienced the steepest decline in property value in Newport News.
According to the Newport News Real Estate Assessor’s Office, Turnberry Two dipped 28.8 percent in value over the past year.
The assessor’s office released its neighborhood-by-neighborhood report last week of how property values fared for the 2012-13 reassessment. Condos slumped for the second year in a row, declining 11.5 percent, compared to a 7.3 percent slide for single-family residential homes.
Across the Peninsula, it’s a similar story, as all local governments that released assessment numbers in late 2011 or 2012 have shown a decline in property values. The two largest Peninsula localities, Hampton and Newport News, both experienced declines.
Newport News
In the 2011-12 reassessment, the 72-unit Turnberry Two in Denbigh lost 20.8 percent of its value, which means the condos have lost nearly 50 percent in value over the past two years.
Kinne, 65, said a host of problems plague the complex, including a rash of foreclosures, the pool never opening, and the outside of the buildings looking worn.
“It’s just gotten really bad,” Kinne said. “They’re not being fixed up like they’re supposed to. The pool hasn’t been open for six years.”
Kinne said she paid $76,000 for the condo about 20 years ago, but now the units sell for half that amount.
“I’ve redone the kitchen and put new carpet down, but I owe more than what they’re selling for. I’ll never get the money out of this place,” Kinne said.
Earl Wynings, appraisal supervisor for the Newport News Assessor’s Office, said condominiums are struggling in the housing market.
“Some of them, there’s not a single arms-length transaction,” Wynings said. “They’re all bank sales.”
Assessor Charles Vester said single-family neighborhoods that saw dramatic declines this year often were more stable last year.
“If they were spared last year, they were more likely to go down farther this year,” Vester said. “Everything is kind of balancing out.”
For instance, the Edgemoor neighborhood in Lee Hall gained 0.14 percent in the 2011-12 reassessment, but lost 10.6 percent this year. So Edgemoor performed better than the average last year, but worse than average this year.
Vester said he has no idea if they’ve seen the bottom of the housing market yet, although there are indications that the market is picking up.
Hampton
The value of properties in Hampton are taking another hit in 2013, the third consecutive year the city’s taxable property value will decrease.
Residential properties — which make up more than half of the city’s properties — saw the biggest swing with some declining in value by more than 10 percent. Neighborhoods in Buckroe, Magruder Commons, Merrimac Shores and Madison Chase are hardest hit by the assessment changes.
Overall, residential properties are decreasing in value by 6 percent.
Hampton’s real estate woes are tied to the regional and national economic downturn, said City Assessor Brian Gordineer in a presentation made to the City Council.
Stephanie Brown, of West Kelly Avenue, said she feels insulated from the real estate market because there are so few homes for sale in her neighborhood.
“It’s a quiet neighborhood,” she said. “People have lived here for a long, long time. No one’s really moving anywhere.”
Residents trying to sell homes, however, are finding properties staying on the market for longer periods of time than before the 2008 national economic downtown.
A Real Estate Information Network report released in February showed year-to-year property sales in Hampton Roads have increased, although homes are selling for about 8 percent less than in 2011.
Just 2 percent of properties in Hampton will have increased assessment values, many of which include Copeland Industrial Park and select neighborhoods bordering the Hampton River.
Despite decreased property values in the upcoming year, Hampton residents have filed fewer grievances with the city Assessor’s Office.
Gordineer said just 122 office reviews — which are considered the first step for residents to challenge their assessments — were scheduled this spring, a 53.4 percent decrease from 2011. Board of Assessment Review appointments also decreased 57 percent from last year.
The deadline to file those grievances was April 1.
