MILTON — Santa Rosa County property values are slowly rising, according to data from the county’s 2015-16 annual report.
Over the past three years real property value rose almost $1 billion.
For 2014, 2015 and 2016, report data show the value of real property — that is, all land and anything on it — rose from $11.63 billion to $11.99 billion to $12.50 billion.
Residential value moved from $8.37 billion to $8.09 billion to $8.64 billion in the same three years.
Vacant land showed steady growth, from $0.69 billion to $0.72 billion to $0.74 billion.
However, commercial property started at $1.06 billion, rose to $1.32 billion and then dropped to $1.23 billion.
“We’re no longer in the downturn that we were in, but it’s not a growth pattern like when I first took office,” Santa Rosa County Property Appraiser Greg Brown said.
In 2001 property values were rising 8 percent per year.
Then came Hurricane Ivan in 2004, Hurricane Dennis in 2005, a drop in the national market in 2006 and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.
“We haven’t been steady since 2004,” Brown said.
Hurricane Ivan did push property values up, he said, because it removed 12 percent of county buildings off the tax roll.
“At least it’s not a downturn. At least it's moving up,” Brown said.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Santa Rosa County property values rise almost $1 billion