Cobb County projects 2% tax-digest increase as housing market slows

The Cobb County Assessor's Office told jurisdictions in late February that the county’s 2025 tax digest is projected to increase by about 2 percent, but officials emphasized the residential real-estate market is slowing compared with recent years.

Stephen White, former chief appraiser and now support services director for the Cobb County Assessor’s Office, said, “the increase in the tax digest that was submitted last year to this year is about 2%.” He and Christine Stinchcomb, the office’s new chief appraiser, presented the projection on Cobb TV and to local jurisdictions to help them plan budgets and rollback rate estimates.

The office’s slides show several signs of a market that is still rising but decelerating. The county’s average sales price is about $500,000, roughly $20,000 higher than the prior year. Active listings rose from about 17,000 in January 2021 to about 35,000 in January 2025, and the median time to sell has lengthened — White said homes that sold in roughly two weeks last year are now taking “a little bit more than a month.”

“The tax digest is a culmination of all taxable property — personal property assets for businesses and then real property: commercial, industrial and residential,” White said, noting the digest is distributed to all taxing jurisdictions including schools, cities and the county. He said the assessor’s office compares recent sales in each valuation area to existing assessed values and adjusts parcels where values no longer reflect fair-market value.

White and Stinchcomb said fewer property owners will see value increases in 2025 compared with prior years, and the size of increases for properties that are changed will generally be smaller. The presentation included a side-by-side revaluation comparison showing fewer and more scattered property adjustments in 2025 than in 2024.

The office also highlighted higher-priced sales: properties selling for more than $1 million increased from 337 in 2023 to about 507 in 2024, a continuing sign that the upper end of the market remains active even as overall momentum slows.

On process and timing, White said the Board of Assessors must approve the digest in June and “by the end of July the tax commissioner delivers the tax digest to the Department of Revenue.” He noted a statutory change from House Bill 581 that removed the previous tax estimate from assessment notices; instead the assessor’s office will print an estimated rollback rate on the notice.

White described outreach and appeal options for taxpayers: “They’re always welcome to come visit the assessor’s office at 736 Whitlock Avenue, but it’s easier if they go to our website, cobbassessor.org. … They can file an appeal electronically through our website.” He said assessment notices go to commercial property owners in April and residential property owners in May.

Stinchcomb, the new chief appraiser, called the transition “a very interesting process” and said the county is still seeing value increases, “it’s just taking longer to sell the houses that are on the market.”

The presentation was framed as a planning tool for jurisdictions rather than a final accounting; officials emphasized the digest projection is provided so local governments can estimate rollback rates and budget for 2025 taxes. The assessor’s office encouraged property owners with questions about specific assessments to use the website or contact the office directly.

Looking ahead, White told the jurisdictions the digest projection should help them set preliminary budgets and that the assessor’s office will continue to monitor market data and report updates as needed.