Los Angeles county has seen its largest property value jump since 2010 at 6.13 percent. The average price of an L.A. county home was $780,000 last year; two-bedroom apartments averaged $2,591 for rent. Moreover, the county’s taxable properties were valued at $1.264 trillion. That’s $73.1 billion more than 2014. Each year, the number of taxable property units increases dramatically. Since 2014, 2.3 million taxable items have been counted along with 318,000 pieces of business equipment, 46,000 boats, and 3,100 aircrafts.

LAHomesAfter each annual residential and commercial property assessment, the data is sent to the county treasurer and tax collector, who then sends property tax bills to the appropriate parties. As of 1978, the assessment percentage on the value of property cannot increase more than 2 percent unless sold. Because of this, many homeowners see around a 2 percent increase in value. In county cities like San Bernardino, assessed property value increased more than 5 percent. This is an even larger increase than the previous high in 2008, just before the collapse of the market. All 820,314 the county’s taxable units were valued at $186.8 billion.

While the increase in price might be difficult for some to take on, it offers a clear advantage for sellers. The ability to set higher asking prices puts seller in a better position than buyers. The most impressive property increases were on the westside, San Gabriel Valley, and South Bay. The additional revenue pumped into the county government is expected to support public safety, health care, and public assistance services. The 6 percent increase provides approximately $280 million in additional revenue.

The housing market has experienced a slow, yet steady rise since the recession and is in good shape to recover. In 2014, over 96,000 jobs were created in L.A. County, posing a heavy contribution factor to the increase demand in housing. The county job increase attributes to 20 percent of the total new jobs in California.

Realtors can only hope that the upward trend continues. So far, that seems to be the case as newly listed homes continue to go fast – even at full asking price!