NATIONAL

Existing-home sales continue to decline
RESPA News
Existing-home sales decreased for the fourth consecutive month in May, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), with month-over-month sales declining in three out of four major U.S. regions and year-over-year sales slipping in all four regions.

ALASKA

Juneau group says it has enough signatures to get real estate disclosure repeal on ballot
KTOO
The group that wants to do away with Juneau's mandate to share real estate sale prices says it has turned in enough signatures to get the question in front of local voters in the fall.

ARIZONA

Ariz. Axes $330M Personal Property Tax
Law360
Arizona will eliminate a statewide tax on personal property worth about $330 million annually under the state budget signed into law by Gov. Doug Ducey. H.B. 2862, signed Tuesday by Ducey,...

CALIFORNIA

Santa Clara County property values hit record $620 billion, despite COVID
Mercury News
The assessed value of all properties in the county has reached a record-breaking $619.9 billion - an increase of about 7.5% from a year ago. It's also a big boost for valuable Silicon Valley, and it comes despite the COVID-19 pandemic that worried experts will put a damper on the region's prosperity.

CONNECTICUT

Meriden church leaders speak out against new tax assessments
My Record Journal
Bishop Joseph J. Norfleet stood on the steps of 152 S. Colony St., a building his church owns that is currently used by another smaller Christian congregation. He held letters addressed to the church he leads from the city's tax assessor's office. Some of them were new tax bills.

FLORIDA

Tampa Bay property values bring record revenues, but not necessarily lower taxes
Tampa Bay
Hammers and nails helped build a looming $43 million property tax windfall for the city of Tampa. The sizzling housing market produced it, said Tampa City Council member Orlando Gudes, and “that money needs to be put back into housing.

HAWAII

Oahu homeowners to pay significantly more in property taxes as home values rise
kitv.com
Hawaii has some of the fastest-rising housing values in the nation. That's good news on one hand -- but it also means more out-of-pocket expenses for many Oahu homeowners. The Honolulu City Council won't be lowering the property tax rate to offset a significant spike in residential home values.

ILLINOIS

WGN Reporter's Taxes In Hinsdale Unusually Low
Patch
WGN investigative reporter Ben Bradley is selling his Hinsdale house for $1.9 million. The tax bill for the property is unusually low – $5,000 in 2020. The Hinsdale property is owned by a land trust, which is often how famous people handle such transactions. Databases indicate Bradley lives in the house.

KANSAS

Kansas Supreme Court reverses property tax decisions favorable to Walmart, Sam's Club
Kansas Reflector
The Kansas Supreme Court waded into a simmering dispute Friday in the appraisal industry on valuing real property of big-box retails stores by overturning lower court decisions rejecting Johnson County's evaluation of nine Walmart Inc. and two Sam's Club stores.

MAINE

Bangor denies mall owner's latest bid to lower property tax bill
Bangor Daily News
The Bangor assessment review board has denied another appeal from the Bangor Mall to lower its city property tax bill, setting the city up for another fight with one of its largest commercial taxpayers.

MICHIGAN

Black homeowners are being overtaxed in Detroit and Wayne Co., complaints allege
Michigan Advance
Government officials in Detroit, Inkster, Highland Park and Wayne County have for years allegedly violated the federal Fair Housing Act by overtaxing primarily Black and low-income homeowners, according to complaints filed Thursday with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Michigan Department of Civil Rights.

MONTANA

Measure to cap Montana property taxes won't qualify for November ballot
Missoula Current
A proposed constitutional amendment to cap Montana's residential property taxes will not appear on the ballot in November. Matthew Monforton, one of the sponsors of Constitutional Initiative 121, confirmed Thursday that they would not reach the more than 60,000 signatures needed to qualify the measure for the general election ballot. 

NEBRASKA

Neb. Upholds Property Valuation Despite Condition Of Home
Law360
A Nebraska homeowner can't lower the assessed valuation of his home based on the condition of the property because homes in the area were appreciating in value, the state tax equalization...

NEW YORK

As prices soar, buyers turn to soul-less, cookie-cutter units
New York Post
Strikingly similar new developments across the city are luring buyers away from restrictive co-ops and historic brownstones and into generic-looking, cookie-cutter spaces. But to buyers like Bartell Cope, who is in contract for a new unit in the Rennie, “You make a place your own with paint, decorations and your personal energy, so it isn't cookie-cutter to me — it's practical.”

Manhattan Holiday Inn sells at a huge loss in COVID trend
New York Post
The coronavirus pandemic may be ebbing, but the hospitality industry still ain't doing so hot. In what has been an ongoing trend, another hotel — this time Chelsea's Holiday Inn at 125 W. 26th St. — has sold, albeit at a steep discount.

TEXAS

D-FW warehouse construction breaks records with new surge
Dallas Morning News
Developers have turned up the heat on Dallas-Fort Worth's blazing industrial building market. At midyear, a record more than 70 million square feet of warehouse and distribution space was under construction in North Texas. That's the equivalent of more than twice the space in all the towers in downtown Dallas.

Pushing Back
Fort Worth Weekly
As a large line of local homeowners began chanting to be let into the Eastside headquarters of the Tarrant Appraisal District (TAD), Realtor Chandler Crouch slowly made his way through the crowd. He thanked the homeowners for showing up Thursday morning for a special meeting and chatted with them about the importance of fair and transparent operations at TAD.