SALISBURY, MD – According to the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation’s (SDAT) 2022 reassessment of 704,430 “Group 1″ residential and commercial properties, Salisbury properties saw a 25 percent increase in assessed value from 2019 to 2022, putting Wicomico County in second place statewide for most value added over the assessment period.
Maryland’s 2 million property accounts are split into three groups, each appraised once every three years. In Wicomico County, Group 1 is comprised of all properties situated in the area roughly between the Wicomico River and Salisbury’s eastern municipal border, and from Business Rte. 50, south to the county line. Designated “Area 1” by SDAT, the zone includes Downtown Salisbury, Tidal Health Peninsula Regional, and Salisbury University.
97.27 percent of Wicomico’s Group 1 residential improved properties increased in value over the three-year period between January 1, 2019, and January 1, 2022. The median home price for Group 1 residential properties grew from $128,298 to $157,304 over the same period – an increase of 22.6 percent. Inside the corporate limits of Salisbury, Group 1 residential properties saw a full 25 percent increase in assessed value. Countywide, commercial properties rose by 5.9 percent.
The overall statewide increase for Group 1 properties was 12.0% over the past three years according to SDAT. This year’s assessment marks the 4th consecutive year that all 23 counties and Baltimore City saw property values increase, reflecting a strong market and steady growth in the state.
“SDAT’s most recent Group 1 assessment data reflects Salisbury’s tremendous successes over the past decade, and bears testimony to the strength and resilience of our economic engine in the face of the pandemic,” said Mayor Jake Day. “It tells us that we have succeeded in elevating Salisbury’s national profile, and in making this city a more attractive, more desirable place to live.”
Salisbury’s population grew by 13.3 percent in the 10-year period between the 2010 and 2020 Censuses, and the city is currently recognized as one of the 20 fastest growing places in America by US News and World Report. With a steady influx of new residents fueling an already red-hot housing market, demand for available units in the city is at an all-time high. Mayor Day touted Salisbury’s efforts to meet that demand while keeping housing affordable.
“Higher assessments do not equal automatic tax increases. In fact, they’re key to allowing us to keep taxes flat,” said the Mayor. “Rising property values feed that already growing momentum, leading to more business, more jobs, and more residents wanting to be here. It’s why we stood up the Here is Home program, which has received almost 2,000 applications for new unit construction to date. Incentivizing new home construction in this way is allowing us to bring supply up to where the demand is, and it’s growing our assessable base.”
