|
Million-dollar homes double Jefferson County has 526 after 2003 revaluation Jumping ahead of Riley's tax plan Jefferson County As my grandmother use to say, "Thares more than one way to skin a cat." |
|
|
06/29/03 VIVI ABRAMS The number of Jefferson County homes worth more than $1 million has doubled in the past four years. In the 2003 property revaluation by the Board of Equalization, 526 houses in the county were valued that high. In 1999, the county had 247. Mountain Brook leads the county with 422 million-dollar homes, compared with 193 four years ago. Vestavia Hills has 54, Birmingham 29. Trussville, Irondale and Adamsville for the first time boast one million-dollar house each. The highest-valued house in Jefferson County is in Mountain Brook, at $9.2 million. The numbers represent a combination of older homes gaining value and newly built estates, many in outlying areas of the county. Board of Equalization Chairman Otis Brown attributed the rise in suburban million-dollar houses to people wanting more space and larger homes. "It's just more money in the area, and some of the land is beautiful," he said. "They get out in the acreage of the suburban area. I call it the fresh-air syndrome." Property value is based on the average price of houses sold in a neighborhood over the past two years. That number is used to calculate a price per square foot for a neighborhood, Brown said. He said the rising cost of property is largely due to the demand for quality school systems. Often, the official valuation the amount owners pay taxes on is lower than what they believe their home is worth and hope to sell for. At least 13 homes in Mountain Brook that cost more than $1 million are on the market now, said Realtor Corinne Greer, a 27-year veteran of the business. According to the RealtySouth Web site, one such house is at 3552 Spring Valley Court, selling for $3.2 million. The Multiple Listing Service comments on the RealtySouth site describe the house as an "outstanding country French chateau on 3.2 gorgeous acres of special landscaping." An abundance of exterior windows allow the design to incorporate the exterior with the interior, the listing goes on to say about the four-bedroom, seven-bathroom home. According to the Board of Equalization, this home was valued at $2,039,700. "What happens is that in growing neighborhoods, values increase yearly because of the good school systems ... By the time we finish our revaluation program, those properties have already increased in value," Brown said. Greer, who specializes in high-end real estate, remembers selling her first million-dollar house in the area in the mid-1980s. She said she sold her first $1.5 million home in 1988. The rise in million-dollar homes has been a gradual process, she said. She was not surprised to hear of the first million-dollar home in Trussville. "Trussville is one of the hottest markets in this town," she said. Shelby County is also increasing in million-dollar homes. The property revaluation is under way now but the 2000 Census showed 139 homes worth more than $1 million, including the palatial Larry House home that was valued at $10 million and failed to sell at an auction earlier this year. That number is a vast increase over 1990, when the census showed Shelby County had 72 houses worth more than $500,000. Jefferson County property owners were not necessarily happy to hear the news of their new designation as owners of million-dollar homes. Jeffrey Tolbert saw his Irondale home, adjacent to Mountain Brook, increase 46 percent in value to reach $1,016,500 and become the first million-dollar home in Irondale. "I am livid about it," Tolbert said. "It is absurd. There is absolutely no justification for it to take that much jump. My property taxes went up over $1,000." Tolbert, CEO of Boeing Business Jet Charters in Birmingham, said the higher property taxes and rising cost of real estate will make it hard to entice new business and growth to the area. "You're approaching the point, if you think it's worth that much, write me a check for it," he said. "It may be time to get out of Jefferson County."
Copyright 2003 al.com. All Rights Reserved. |