Property owners in Harris County face an increase of $1.05 billion, based on information presented by Harris Central Appraisal District (HCAD) on Wednesday, March 25, 2025. Homeowners are estimated to absorb 51% of the increase with the balance incurred by owners of commercial, business personal property, and industrial property. Real estate owners in Harris County can expect modest increases, although the amount varies by property type. The increase is based on the increase in property tax market value assessments levied by Harris Central Appraisal District for 2025 versus the certified property tax values for 2024. The estimate is based on a 2.1% tax rate and does not include homestead or other exemptions.
Are These Increases Final?
The estimated property tax increases are based on the initial 2025 HCAD tax assessments. Property owners can appeal and most who appeal are successful. About three in ten owners appealed in 2024. The appeal deadline is May 15th or 30 days after the notice of assessed value is mailed, if there is an increase.
Who Will See Higher Property Tax Bills?
New luxury homes and apartment owners face the largest levels of property tax increase.
An analysis prepared by property tax consultant, O’Connor, estimates 2025 property tax increases for homeowners by about $533 million and for commercial property owners about $515 million, based on the initial values. In Harris County, most property owners are learning of their recently released property values. Of 1,115,999 single-family homes, just over half, or 56% have value increases for 2025. Out of remaining residential properties, 31.8% saw a decrease in value while 12.2% showed no change. When focusing on value ranges, 84.3% of homes valued at $750K and higher had value increases by HCAD.
New Construction and Luxury Homes See the Largest Gains
New luxury homes have an out-sized portion of the increases compared to existing homes up for reappraisal. The average uptick for reappraisals of existing homes is a diminutive 3.82%, while the total including new homes are up an average of 9.92%. For all residential property in Harris County, the overall percent of change is an increase of 5.95%. Luxury homes in the value ranges of $750K and up have not only had the greatest number of account increase, but they have also witnessed the most significant amount of increase with an overall percent of change clocking in at 12.22%, more than double the average increase for houses.
New Valuation Methodology for RV Parks and Mobile Homes
In apparent acknowledgement of the impact property taxes can make on housing affordability, Harris County has introduced new for 2025 Type 4212 (RV Parks) and Type 4213 (Mobile Home Parks). These property types constitute an inventory of 864 accounts with a proposed appraised value of close to $843 million or an average of just less than $1 million each. This income model applies to mobile home and RV parks of greater than 20 spaces, making the approximate cost of ownership at or potentially less than $50K per home space within each tax account.
Commercial Property Sees Minimal Gains, But Retail and Warehouses Feel the Pinch
Overall, commercial property values have a substantial increase 10.1% over the 2024 certified values. Owners of retail and warehouse property are the losers with an above average increase in value of 14.9% and 12.9% respectively. Medical property saw an increase in value of 9.5%. Hotel/motels went up 10.6%. Apartments as well as Land/Auxiliary property classes have been reappraised by the county with values of 7.8% and 8.3%, respectively.
Apartments comprise the greatest portion of the total commercial noticed value in Harris County for 2025 at $71.8 billion or 27% of the commercial total. Retail follows with $62.1 billion accounting for 23% of commercial noticed value. Warehouses account $56.9 billion or 21% while the initial tax assessed value for office buildings is $34.1 billion or 13%. Hotels ($6.3 billion and 2.4%) and medical property ($12.4 billion or 4.7%) represent smaller segments of Harris County’s total commercial property value.
The collective noticed value of commercial property in Harris County has increased from $240 billion in 2024 to $264.5 billion in 2025. This is a 10.1% increase year over year, totaling a $24.5 billion increase in market value. It is also worth noting that while the noticed value of commercial property was $260 billion in 2024, by the time values were certified for 2024, the overall total for Harris County commercial property value had been reduced to $240 billion. The $24.5 billion increase for commercial represents a potential property tax increase of $515 million. It remains to be seen if appeals will bring this total down before values are certified for the current year.
How Can I Reduce My Property Taxes?
The two basics of reducing property taxes are applying for a homestead exemption and appealing property taxes annually.
The Importance of Protesting Property Value
Property owners should keep in mind that the most effective way to keep their overall tax cost low is to protest values every year, whether the value is up, down, or unchanged.
This habit is practiced extensively by real estate investors and business owners to keep down costs of ownership. However homeowners are less likely to exercise the right to appeal and hence pay an excessive portion of the property tax burden. Property owners who have the time and discipline for collecting evidence and comparables often fare well when contesting their value with the county appraisal district. For those who don’t have the time or inclination, securing the services of a property tax consultant is a good choice.