Mohave County Assessor Ron Nicholson reported Wednesday 2012 property valuations — mailed out this week — reflect a 9 percent countywide decrease compared to 2011.

Furthermore, valuations are trending downward by 50 percent when comparing property valuations during the past four years in Havasu and all of Mohave County.

“The countywide decrease for 2012 was 9 percent,” Nicholson said. “The year before — the 2011 notices — decreased 20 percent (from the previous year). And 2010 valuations decreased 17 percent and 2009 valuations were a decrease of 6 percent.”

In Lake Havasu City, the change of net-assessed, full-cash value of properties differs from the county’s overall figures.

For example, Havasu’s 2011 valuations decreased 2 percent, compared to a countywide 20 percent. The 2010 valuations for Havasu decreased 23 percent, compared to the countywide 17 percent decrease. In 2009, Havasu valuations decreased 11 percent, compared to a 6 percent decrease countywide.

“Havasu was the first to see the tremendous (real estate market) increases (a few years ago),” Nicholson said. “Then the market moved to BHC and then Kingman.”

Since the spike in the market nearly a half-decade ago, the market has crashed but the county assessor said he has hope it will begin to level off.

“The great unknown out there is what the market is going to do,” Nicholson said. “We might see another wave of foreclosures.”

Looming variable-rate mortgages could result in unachievable mortgage payment readjustments for some people.

Nicholson said phantom inventory is another element.

“Lending providers may have not yet put all foreclosed homes on the market,” he said. “They may have held back inventory hoping for a change in the market so they could make more money.

“Also, a big question mark is what is happening with commercial. With rents lower and vacancies higher … it could be that we have not seen all the foreclosures in commercial.”

Historically, a real estate market boom largely consuming BHC and some of Havasu in 1989 and 1990 resulted in market crash a year later. That market didn’t pick up again for about five years, Nicholson explained.

The county assessor couldn’t recall how the market in the early 1990 crash affected Havasu specifically, but he said the local market “didn’t dip anywhere near the impacts in Bullhead.

“This time it’s financial institutions caving, so it’s different,” Nicholson said. “I’ve never seen the sheer volume of foreclosures before. It was the easy credit, the loss of jobs and then finding lower paying jobs. I personally don’t see a significant increase in the market until probably the next four years.”

However, the current market will continue to have a timeline disconnect with property valuations in Mohave County because the process lags the market by two years, Nicholson explained.

Valuations for residential and vacant land parcels are determined by comparable area sales.

Location, view, size, quality and condition all are weighed and a mass appraisal mathematical model is used to arrive at each parcel’s value, according to the county’s website.

The market is determined by actual sales that have occurred within the past 30 months. The timeframe is based on Arizona Department of Revenue guidelines.

For example, 2012 residential or vacant land valuations were derived from qualified sales that occurred during all of 2009 and the first six months of 2010, according to the website.

The County Assessor doesn’t set the tax rates, but rather notifies property owners of their property value based on a somewhat delayed real estate market, according to earlier reports.

Tax rates for 2011 will be finalized the third week in August after county staff comprises a preliminary budget and county supervisors approve it.

Nicholson said the arrival of valuation notices is the time to appeal valuations. If property owners wait until their tax bills arrive in September of each year, it’s too late to appeal property valuations.

Property owners have 60 days to appeal valuations. The valuation appeal processes for 2012 — at the county level — must be submitted no later than April 12.

The deadline to appeal 2012 valuations through Arizona Tax Court is Dec. 15, 2011. New property owners have until Dec. 15, 2012 to appeal 2012 valuations through Arizona Tax Court. New owners may only appeal if the previous owner didn’t already, according to the website.

For more information about the property valuation or valuation appeal process visit the county’s website at www.co.mohave.az.us and follow the Assessor link from the Departments menu, and then select Real Property Valuation from the menu in the left column.

You may contact the reporter at jhanson@havasunews.com.