Foreclosures and Home Values in El Paso: A Slower Climb but Still at Historic Highs

While the city of El Paso and its taxing bodies work to set property tax rates for the next year, home values in the city continue to rise, although at a slower pace than in previous years. Despite this slowdown, prices remain at historic highs.

Tom Fullerton, an Economics Professor at UTEP, says, “New home prices are expected to increase by about 3.8% this year, and prices for second-hand homes, which dominate El Paso’s residential real estate market, are expected to rise by a little over 4%.” This projection would result in historically high figures, with new home prices around $259,000 and second-hand home prices around $250,000.

Fullerton, who oversees home valuations through UTEP’s Border Region Modeling Project, notes that the rate of home price increases is stabilizing compared to previous years, as between 2021 and 2022, median prices rose by more than 30%, but things have cooled significantly since then, mainly because mortgage rates stopped rising.

On Thursday, in a special session, El Paso city representatives voted to propose a tax rate for the 2025 fiscal year, with a reduction of approximately 7% from the previous year’s rate. This rate implies that the city would collect the same property tax revenue as the immediately preceding year.

According to a city spokesperson, this rate means that for an average $250,000 home in El Paso, the tax bill would be reduced by $144. Professor Fullerton suggests that for the city to maintain the same revenue, there must be an increase in the variety and number of properties in the tax base.

City documents show an increase in the property tax base compared to last year. The tax rate worksheet indicates that this year’s total taxable value is $52,288,266,217, up from last year’s $46,948,442,200.

Fullerton also said, “More than $5.2 billion in nonresidential construction permits were approved during that period (2017 to 2021), peaking in 2018 with more than $900 million in commercial space permitted; and although not all was completed, this is a historic figure. Last year was another strong year for commercial space in El Paso, which likely allowed the city to adjust property tax rates, resulting in a $140 reduction for homes on average across the metropolitan area.”

Available Foreclosures:

El Paso: 150 homes available.

By Elías DaSilva | 23 de octubre de 2024.