Market values increase 40 percent for some

Strong real estate sales in Rock County are driving market values higher in 2023.
The higher values are based on sales from Oct. 1, 2020, to Sept. 30, 2021, in Rock County. There were 185 “arm’s length” parcel sales recorded in the Rock County Land Records Office during that timeframe.
Due to the sales, the market values for 2023 increased by as much as 40 percent in some areas of the county, depending on the parcel’s classification.
Land Records Office Director Rachel Jacobs presented her report during the annual Board of Equalization meeting June 28.
“It’s crazy,” she said. “I still have people who are buying homes at $100,000 more, after I had already increased that (valuation) 30 percent.”
Land records workers Jeff Sehr and Scott Adams also attended the meeting.
Sehr said the city of Steen had the largest valuation increase.
“Steen had seven sales so they had to be considered as their own jurisdiction,” Jeff Sehr said. “This is the first time we ever had a small city go over (six). Usually it is two or none.”
Contributing to the 40 percent increase was the low market value prior to the seven sales, which in Steen, whose market value was at 60 percent of similar properties in the county.
For assessment purposes, market value needs to be between 90 and 105 percent of the sale prices of like properties.
“In our small cities, we have been falling further and further behind every single year, but again we don’t have six sales (in the same town) so it is hard,” Jacobs said.
“We look at our small cities as a whole collective, and this year we had them increase 25 percent so they can stay with the market as it’s increasing.”
As a group, Hardwick, Magnolia, Kenneth and Beaver Creek had 10 sales.
The city of Hills had 13 sales, resulting in a variable valuation increase of 25 to 35 percent.
The city of Luverne had 101 sales during the assessment timeframe, and values increased 10 to 20 percent.
Commercial property market values increased 10 percent.
Acreages across the county saw a 30 percent increase on the house and garage in market value based on 22 sales during the valuation period.
Valuations on machine sheds and concrete increased 20 percent and hog barn depreciation schedule changed from 3 percent to 2 percent per year.
Jacobs said “overbuilt” township homes received an increase of 23 percent and are now grouped together like the homes in the Valleyview Addition (east of Luverne).
“They are more city living because their lots are larger than what an actual city lot would be,” she said.
“They have their own grouping because they have similar lot sizes. We did this about four years ago.”
For 2023, ag land value increased on average 15 to 20 percent, based on 32 sales.
In addition to sales, ag land valuations are affected by crop equivalent ratings (CER) assigned to parcels based on soil type, and Jacobs said over time she will bring the county’s CER more in line with today’s crop production standards.
The commissioners accepted Jacobs’ report and approved one market value of $1,100 per acre for all agricultural land enrolled in the Reinvest in Minnesota (RIM) program.
Jacobs said Rock County has 62 parcels enrolled in the program but only 11 were classified as such.
That meant some parcels were assessed at the higher value that tillable acres have.
“It (the classification change) should have happened when they put the land in RIM,” Jacobs said.
The RIM change reduced the county’s overall property value by $8 million for a .27 percent drop.
As a whole, Rock County’s estimated property value for assessment purposes is $3.5 billion, an increase of just over 16 percent in 2021.
The city of Luverne led the list with $385 million in assessed value followed by Martin Township with $377 million.