AREA HOMES WORTH MORE ASSESSED VALUATIONS 9.4 PERCENT HIGHER.

Byline: Daily News staff and wire reports

SANTA CLARITA - Property values in Santa Clarita jumped by more than $1.1 billion this year, a 9.4 percent increase over 2002, county officials said Wednesday.

Santa Clarita has the sixth-highest assessed valuation in Los Angeles County, with 54,774 parcels worth $13.6 billion, according to county Assessor Rick Auerbach.

Throughout Los Angeles County, property values vaulted $49.9 billion in 2003, a 7.4 percent leap that reflects the fifth year in a row that values have increased at least 6 percent.

The assessment roll topped $725.7 billion, a record, Auerbach said.

Countywide, ``this is probably the largest roll increase in 10 years,'' he said.

``This is a dynamic (home) seller's market, primarily because of low interest rates and a short supply of medium-priced housing,'' said Auerbach. ``A lack of economically developable land and the strong demand for housing have resulted in rapidly rising home prices.''

But the huge jump in property values won't help Santa Clarita or Los Angeles County out of their budget woes.

While county government expects $1.7 billion in property taxes, those taxes account for just 10 percent of Santa Clarita's revenues. School districts and special agencies also get a share of the tax.

``The approximately $49 billion increase certainly helps,'' Auerbach said.

New construction in the county for 2003 amounted to $4.3 billion compared to $4.7 billion last year. The largest factor in the increase, however, was existing properties in which ownership was sold or transferred.

Changes of ownership and transfers, causing a reassessment under Proposition 13, added $27 billion to the roll. The number of properties sold or transferred jumped 49 percent over last year's number.

The average assessment amount added by each transfer increased from $107,000 last year to $130,000 in 2003. The average home price in the county is $333,300 this year, compared with $193,700 in 1996.

The annual Consumer Price Index-related adjustment of 2 percent on the value of properties that did not change hands resulted in an $11.1 billion increase to the roll - the second highest factor in the overall roll increase. The CPI adjustment is mandated by Proposition 13.

At $4.7 billion, restorations of values that had been reduced under Proposition 8, and other adjustments, were the third largest component in producing the $49.9 billion roll increase. State law requires an annual analysis of Prop. 8 assessments.

This year, 154,000 Proposition 8 properties were examined and only 33,000 parcels remained unchanged in value. Of the remainder, 79,000 parcels were fully restored to their Prop. 13 value; 41,000 were partially restored and 400 were further reduced.

Los Angeles City remained the highest-valued municipality in the county, with a total assessed value of $266 billion, a 7.7 percent increase over 2002, followed by Long Beach with a $28.1 billion assessment, a 9.4 percent jump.