Property values continue to rise in the Shoals, officials say

FLORENCE, Ala. (WAFF) - Homeowners in the Shoals are seeing their property values climb as more people move into the area.

Leaders in both Lauderdale and Colbert Counties are shocked to see how much some property values have increased in the area in just the last year.

”It’s going up,” Lauderdale County Commissioner Billy Hammock said.

Officials in both Lauderdale and Colbert County are seeing an increase in property values head-on.

In Muscles Shoals, the average homeowner saw the value of their home jump 18 percent this year, according to the Colbert County Revenue Commissioner, Tommy Oswalt.

Some homeowners, like Ellen I’Anson, are wondering why the increase may be occurring.

“Significantly,” I’Anson stressed. “And we were like how can that happen so quickly with that big of a jump?, So we’re just not sure why that has jumped so quickly.”

Lauderdale County Revenue Commissioner Billy Hammock said the increase is because more people are moving to the Shoals, creating more demand for housing, and driving property values up.

“We’ve always been the best-kept secret in Alabama,” Hammock said. “So we all kept wanting growth and wanting growth and wanting growth. Now we’re getting it so it’s a little bit more inconvenient. It’s costing us more money on our property taxes. Look at the restaurants that are here now. Look at the motels. So there’s a lot of good to it.”

Hammock said homeowners who saw their property values rise this year will also end up paying more in property taxes.

But, he says it is ultimately a good thing for the community.

76 percent of property tax dollars go back into the county and pay for things like schools, bridges, and road paving, just to name a few.

The growth does not seem to be slowing down, either.

“We added 1.100 new houses for the garbage to be picked up just in the county,” Hammock said. “That’s not slowing down very much.”

Hammock said a bank official told him the bank is providing loans for houses in Lauderdale County based on $190 per square foot. This would mean an average 2000-square-foot house would be $400,000.

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