Bexar County property owners will soon receive their 2025 valuation notices, with the appraised value of residential properties rising an average of roughly 2.1% from the previous year.
The Bexar Appraisal District called it a “modest” change, “reflecting a steady but subdued real estate market.”
Valuations are intended to provide a point-in-time market value of a property so that taxes can be assessed on that amount.
During the bullish housing markets of several years ago, Bexar County average property values rose by 16% in 2023 and 28% in 2022, before settling down in 2024, with the average property value rising by just 2.4%.
This year, the average sales price for residential properties in Bexar County actually decreased slightly from the previous year, according to the Bexar Apprisal District’s data.
New construction pulled the countywide average up, the appraisal district said, while “most neighborhoods showed flat values or mild appreciation.”
To put it in perspective, the appraisal district only generates a valuation notice if a property’s value rose by at least $1,000 from the previous year, said the agency’s spokeswoman Jennifer Rodriguez. This year it sent notices to 390,000 out of 774,000 properties — about 174,000 fewer notices than last year.
It’s not yet clear how Bexar County properties compared to the rest of the state, Rodriguez said, because the valuations are just now being generated across other counties.
But this year’s data comes as some local housing experts have begun sounding alarm that homes of the lowest value in Bexar County are being overtaxed compared to homes that are worth more — thanks in part to property tax exemptions that were designed to rein in explosive growth in value.
Commercial properties’ market values rose in Bexar County by an average of 7.68% this year, and multifamily properties’ market values rose 4.31%, according to the appraisal district.
Property tax bills are issued in the fall and must be paid by Jan. 31.
A one-year reappraisal reprieve
After valuation notices are received in the mail, property owners can challenge a valuation they think is too high. The deadline to file a protest is May 15.
This year that process is particularly important, because the Bexar Appraisal District plans to skip over appraising properties in 2026 if the owner successfully challenged their valuation in 2025.
The policy was intended to address one of residents’ chief complaints about the appraisal process: Having to repeat the process of fighting their valuations year after year.
“Its primary impact is going to be people who protest this year and they have a change in value, either informally or formally, as long as they do not seek further a further appeal, meaning arbitration or a lawsuit, and there’s no major change to their property — no adding a shed or a pool, things of that nature,” Rodriguez said. “Then that 2025 value is going to roll into 2026.”
Homestead exemptions
If a property’s value has grown significantly in recent years, and has a homestead exemption applied, the appraised value may continue to rise even in a slow year, the appraisal district has cautioned.
Homestead exemptions — which can be claimed if the owner lives at the property — are designed to allow homeowners to reduce the taxable value of their principal residence so that rising property valuations don’t hit homeowners quite so hard.
For example, a 20% homestead exemption on a home assessed at a market value of $300,000 would reduce its taxable amount to $240,000.
The homestead exemption’s cap acts as a buffer in an upward market, but the appraised value keeps rising by 10% each year until it matches the market value.
“Property owners have to be very aware that what’s going to roll over is the market value, not the appraised value,” Chief Appraiser Rogelio Sandoval said of the new reappraisal plan.
To get the basic homestead exemption, homeowners need to fill out this form and submit it to the Bexar County Appraisal District.
