Assessed Value vs. Market Value: Why Your Panorama City or North Hills Tax Bill Isn’t What Your Home Is Worth (2026)

Short answer on assessed value vs market value: your assessed value is a tax number, not a price. Under Prop 13 it starts at what you paid and can rise no more than 2% a year. Market value is what a buyer would pay for your home today. If you have owned in Panorama City or North Hills for years, your assessed value is likely far below what the house would sell for.

That gap matters when you sell, when you buy, and when the new tax bill shows up. With 2026-27 bills arriving this month, here is how it works in plain terms.

In California, the LA County Assessor sets your value when you buy (or build). After that, Prop 13 caps the yearly increase at 2%, even if prices nearby climb much faster. The base tax is 1% of assessed value, plus any voter-approved bonds and direct assessments listed on your bill.

Here is a simple illustration, not a real property. Say a Panorama City home sold for $300,000 in 2005. Even if the maximum 2% were added every year since, its assessed value would be no more than about $455,000 today. Recent area sales put typical market values well above that.

So when a neighbor says their taxes are much lower than a buyer’s estimate, both can be right. They are just looking at two different numbers.

Buyers, appraisers and lenders do not use your assessed value. They look at recent sales of similar homes nearby. In North Hills, Redfin shows a median of 52 days on market and 99.4% of list price over the three months ending September 2026, with 31.4% of homes taking a price cut. Price off comparable sales, not the tax roll.

Expect your buyer to ask about taxes. Their bill will be based on their purchase price, so share your current bill for the bonds and assessments, but tell them the value will reset.

If you are 55 or older and buying a replacement home in California, Prop 19 may let you carry your lower base value with you. That is worth a separate conversation before you list.

After you close, the Assessor revalues the home at your purchase price and sends a supplemental bill for the difference, prorated by the months left in the July-to-June fiscal year. Buy between January 1 and May 31 and you can get two supplemental bills.

These bills go to you, not to your lender’s impound account. Many first-year owners miss this. Set money aside so it is not a shock.

If you bought near a recent peak and prices in your area slipped, your market value on January 1 may be below your assessed value. Prop 8 lets the Assessor lower your value for that year. You apply with a decline-in-value review, using sales as close to January 1 as possible and no later than March 31.

For the 2026 roll, the window is July 2 to November 30, 2026. The reduction is temporary, and once prices recover the value can go up by more than 2% a year until it reaches your Prop 13 base again. Most long-time owners will not qualify, because their assessed value is already far below market.