Headed for mailboxes all over town
Updated valuations for 2008 are up at the Travis Central Appraisal District site. The 2007 valuations have not yet been transferred to the history page, which at the moment shows numbers for the years 2000 through 2006. Until 2007 info appears on the history page, those property-owners interested in figuring the change in valuation between the 2007 certified number and the 2008 preliminary one must refer to their own records. Those not owning their habitations do not go unaffected; rents will rise to cover these increases. And the changes do seem to be increases in appraised values, not declines. The local daily quotes a local real-estate consultant as saying that these figures are a “lagging indicator of market conditions.” Are you consoled?
Considering that median sold prices are still going up, I doubt that these valuations are lagging anything. Those "reduced" signs just means that we’re no longer completely in a Sellers market where you can charge anything for your house and people will still buy it. Now you actually have to price to market.