MILWAUKEE — Some Milwaukee residents might be in a big of shock at the double digit increase on their recent property assessment.

Milwaukee residential assessment values are up, on average, by about 19%, according to the city's assessor's office. 

Nicole Larsen is the commissioner of assessment for the City of Milwaukee. Her office recently announced the property assessment hike.

“It’s great news for Milwaukee; our collective value is increasing and that’s a good thing. We want to have that because it means that we are growing; it means we have a strong real estate market and it means that people want to be here. It’s reflective that people want to be here,” said Larsen.

Nicole Larsen is the commissioner of assessment for the City of Milwaukee. Her office recently announced the property assessment hike. (Spectrum News 1/Wendy Strong)

Larsen said this means there is a demand for what the City of Milwaukee has to offer.

Larsen said there were two key factors at play.

“It’s the real estate market that has been very robust and the prices which people have been willing to pay for homes has affected our assessment values, but also that we did maintenance here in 2023. In ‘24, you are really seeing two years’ worth of increases reflective in the ‘24 value,” said Larsen.

Some residents said they are worried that a higher assessment will mean higher property taxes.

Kate Kenlay is a sales director with Shorewest Realtors, which has 26 offices in Wisconsin. (Spectrum News 1/Wendy Strong)

Kate Kenlay is a sales director with Shorewest Realtors, which has 26 offices in Wisconsin. She said the assessment increase doesn’t necessarily mean those taxes will go up.

“It really means that the assessor’s office feels, based on market data, that the homes in the Milwaukee area have increased in value and everything that we have greatly supports that, that homes have appreciated and have gone up and they’re just trying to stay in alignment with that,” said Kenlay.

Larsen said the property value growth in the city is vast.

“Walker’s Point had one of the largest increases this year and then also on the Northwest Side and also on the Southwest Side as well so that’s where we have seen the most growth in the assessed values but there’s lots of areas in the city that are doing great,” she said.

Any Milwaukee resident wishing to challenge their new assessment has until May 20 to do so. Learn more, here.