With metro Denver home values climbing for years, homeowners probably won’t be surprised to see a larger property tax bill this year.

Metro Denver Assessors Tuesday revealed the new residential property valuations, which are single-digit percent increases for most counties. According to the assessors, the higher values are a less dramatic increase than the mostly-double-digit percent increases from the 2017-19 valuation cycle.

“This represented the slight cooling of the real estate market between January 1, 2019 and June 30, 2020 compared to prior valuation cycles,” according to the news release.

In Douglas County, for example, the median increase for residential property was 8% for this cycle. For the 2017-19 cycle, home values increased a whopping 14.5%.

The eight counties that make up the metro Denver area include: Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, Elbert and Jefferson.

State law mandates property be revalued every two years.

Boulder County saw the biggest increase in values, 11%, while Jefferson County was not far behind with 10%. The other county increases are as follows: Adams 8%; Arapahoe 7%; Broomfield 7%; Denver 7%; Elbert 6%.

According to the most recent numbers from Denver Metro Assocation of Realtors, the average sales price for homes here is a record-setting $589,587, eclipsing the previous record of $559,872 set in October.

Notices of property valuation are scheduled to be mailed Saturday. Appeals can be made through June 1.

The assessors also studied the impact the COVID-19 pandemic on commercial valuations, as most businesses were forced to shut down or operate at limited capacity, especially restaurants and hotels.

“While some small decrease in residential transactions was observed after March 2020, commercial real estate transactions fundamentally ceased to occur,” the report states.

Hardest hit were hotel properties, while on the other end industrial/warehouse submarket saw increases of 10-25%. According to the study, office property values remained mostly flat, except in downtown Denver “where vacancy challenges lead to decreases.”

As far as “small retail, restaurants & entertainment” properties, the study notes: “A Covid-19 adjustment of approximately -11% should be made to the estimated income values for sit-down restaurants, bars, taverns, and entertainment venues.”