How to appeal your home’s property taxes

By Finance News On May 16, 2025

Milan2099 | E+ | Getty Images

Many homeowners have seen their property taxes increase in recent years because of rising housing prices and local tax rates. But the property tax assessment isn’t always set in stone: filing an appeal may lower the cost for years.

The median property tax bill in the U.S. in 2024 was $3,500, up 2.8% from $3,349 in 2023, according to an April report by Realtor.com.

How much you pay varies widely depending on where you live, and some places have seen higher bills and bigger increases.

As of 2023, the median property tax for homeowners in New York City was $9,937, according to a new report by LendingTree. The city ranks first among the metropolitan areas with the highest median property taxes. Rounding out the top three are San Jose, California and San Francisco, where homeowners paid a median $9,554 and $8,156, respectively.

Over 40% of homeowners across the U.S. could potentially save $100 or more per year by protesting their assessment value, Realtor.com estimates, with median savings of $539 a year.

“You’re banking on several years of savings,” said Pete Sepp, president of the National Taxpayers Union Foundation.

That’s because while some state or local governments mandate annual property tax reassessments, others set less frequent cycles with gaps of several years — and some have no set schedule at all. There are also some events that can trigger a reassessment, like a home sale or renovations.

Here’s what you need to know before you appeal a property tax increase, according to experts.

‘You’re paying more than you should’

A tax assessment is the way officials determine the value of your property for tax purposes.

Your home’s market value, or what it would sell for, is a major component, but other factors can sway that result. It will ultimately depend on how property taxes are assessed in your area.

“It’s not a nationwide formula,” said Melissa Cohn, regional vice president of William Raveis Mortgage.

However, it’s not uncommon for properties to be over-assessed, meaning you end up paying more in taxes than you should be, said Sepp. Sometimes it can be due to inaccuracies that were never corrected in your home’s assessment.

For example: Your assessment might have 2,500 square feet of livable space cited when it’s really 2,000 square feet, or note four full bathrooms when the home really has three full and one half-bath.

“Those kinds of things get embedded in your property assessment, and year after year, you’re paying more than you should,” Sepp said.

NTUF estimates 30% to 60% of taxable property in the U.S. is over-assessed, based on reports from individual state tax assessors.

How to appeal

Appealing your assessment is “not a terribly difficult investment of time for a residential…