Humboldt Park homeowners see tax assessments skyrocket

The area near the namesake park has the sharpest increase in property assessments

A row of greystone apartment buildings in Humboldt Park (Credit: iStock)
A row of greystone apartment buildings in Humboldt Park (Credit: iStock)

Homeowners in Humboldt Park have seen their property values far outpace other hot housing markets in Chicago, and soon they will pay the price.

Property assessments sent out last week to West Side homeowners show the taxable value of homes in some of the city’s trendiest neighborhoods have gone up 40 percent since 2016, when the last reassessment was completed, according to Crain’s.

In Humboldt Park, and in particular the blocks right next to the namesake park, taxable value has risen by more than 50 percent. Only one other area — a few blocks on a main stretch of Logan Square — saw an assessment increase of 50 percent.

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The rise in tax assessments isn’t much of a surprise. Median single-family home prices in Humboldt Park rose by 45 percent this year compared to the same time last year. Other trendy neighborhoods, like Logan Square and Lakeview, saw home prices rise by 17 percent.

Still, North Side homeowners have not been happy with the development. When assessments began being mailed out earlier this year, residents began crying foul over estimated values that had soared by a third or more.

Home prices and assessments have not gone up uniformly in Chicago, where only one in eight ZIP codes has home values that have recovered to pre-recession levels. [Crain’s]Joe Ward