McHenry Times

In May 2012, John Niederkorn paid $555,000 – about $610,000 in today's dollars – for a four-bedroom, three-bath home at 42 Braeburn Lane in Barrington Hills. The home's 2012 property taxes were $14,821, an effective rate then of nearly 2.7 percent.

Niederkorn sold the home on Jan. 3 for $480,000. His tax bill in 2017: $15,930, or about 3.3 percent of its sale value. 

That's close to the median effective rate in Barrington Hills this year, according to a Blockshopper.com analysis of real estate sales data in McHenry County from Jan 1. to June 30, 2018, among the highest in the county.

It is also about three times the national average.

Put another way: a $555,000 home in Indiana, where the effective rate is 0.89 percent, would have a property tax bill of about $4,940 or about $11,000 less per year.

Blockshopper's data, covering 29 McHenry County communities, indicates that homeowners in Barrington Hills, Bull Valley, Lakewood, Richmond, Prairie Grove, Cary, Lakemoor and Harvard pay the highest property taxes in the county – between 3 and 4 percent.

The communities of Crystal Lake, McHenry, Fox River Grove, Algonquin, Spring Grove, Island Lake, Woodstock, Lake in the Hills, Marengo, Oakwood Hills, Port Barrington and Huntley have effective property tax rates of between 2.5 and 3 percent.

Illinois homeowners pay the second-highest property taxes in the country with an effective median rate of 2.22 percent, just behind those in New Jersey (2.28 percent).

Equity-less home ownership

Anita Phillips sold her half-acre home at 9465 Nicklaus Lane in Lakewood on March 12 for $332,500. The transaction appeared to be a $42,500 gain over what she paid for it – $290,000 – in April 2016.

But that apparent profit is less impressive than at first glance. Taking into account the effects of inflation, the home cost Phillips $306,000 in today's dollars. Then consider that she paid about $30,000 in taxes while she owned the house, with the final tax bill at $9,090, meaning Phillips' effective tax rate was 2.7 percent. All told, she lost about $3,500 on the deal.

In other parts of McHenry County, many sellers were able to at least recoup their original purchase price. Overall, McHenry County home values have risen about 8.3 percent over last year at this time, according to Zillow.com, and the median home value is $212,200.

Sales activity appears to be mixed for high-end home sellers. In Prairie Grove, where the median home value is $325,000, sales were up 15 percent in the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2017. But in Barrington Hills, where the median home value is $431,750, sales numbers were down 17 percent over the same time period.

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McHenry County communities paying highest effective property tax rates

The following table ranks McHenry County communities with 10 or more home sales by their median effective property tax rate, calculated using sales and property tax data from 2018.

City	Jan - June 2018 Sales	Jan - June 2018 Median Price	Median tax	Effective Property Tax Rate
Barrington Hills	10	$431,750	$15,956	3.70%
Bull Valley	12	$337,750	$11,722	3.47%
Lakewood	53	$340,000	$11,727	3.45%
Richmond	29	$126,000	$4,179	3.32%
Prairie Grove	27	$325,000	$10,416	3.21%
Cary	180	$210,000	$6,700	3.19%
Lakemoor	22	$151,250	$4,642	3.07%
Harvard	56	$107,500	$3,297	3.07%
Crystal Lake	419	$202,000	$5,857	2.90%
McHenry	308	$176,250	$5,054	2.87%
Fox River Grove	43	$245,000	$7,015	2.86%
Algonquin	190	$227,000	$6,497	2.86%
Spring Grove	60	$289,500	$8,221	2.84%
Island Lake	45	$170,000	$4,803	2.83%
Woodstock	233	$165,000	$4,659	2.82%
Lake in the Hills	329	$210,000	$5,879	2.80%
Marengo	56	$157,000	$4,100	2.61%
Oakwood Hills	30	$219,000	$5,703	2.60%
Port Barrington	18	$275,000	$7,089	2.58%
Huntley	188	$240,500	$6,068	2.52%
Johnsburg	53	$250,000	$6,153	2.46%
Wonder Lake	107	$140,000	$3,386	2.42%
Pistakee Highlands	29	$140,000	$3,215	2.30%
Hebron	12	$151,384	$3,208	2.12%

Source: Blockshopper.com; McHenryCounty Assessment Office

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McHenry County median home prices

The following table ranks McHenry County communities by the change in their median sale price from 2017 to 2018.

City	Jan - June 2017 Sales	Jan - June 2017 Median Price	Jan - June 2018 Sales	Jan - June 2018 Median Price	Change
Johnsburg	56	$209,500	53	$250,000	19.33%
Prairie Grove	21	$283,000	27	$325,000	14.84%
Island Lake	49	$150,000	45	$170,000	13.33%
Oakwood Hills	23	$196,000	30	$219,000	11.73%
Marengo	63	$142,000	56	$157,000	10.56%
Fox River Grove	34	$224,000	43	$245,000	9.38%
Hebron	8	$139,000	12	$151,384	8.91%
Lake in the Hills	348	$196,000	329	$210,000	7.14%
Lakemoor	29	$142,000	22	$151,250	6.51%
Wonder Lake	105	$132,000	107	$140,000	6.06%
Woodstock	214	$156,000	233	$165,000	5.77%
McHenry	289	$168,000	308	$176,250	4.91%
Crystal Lake	384	$194,500	419	$202,000	3.86%
Port Barrington	11	$270,000	18	$275,000	1.85%
Spring Grove	39	$285,000	60	$289,500	1.58%
Harvard	64	$107,500	56	$107,500	0.00%
Bull Valley	18	$342,250	12	$337,750	-1.31%
Cary	158	$215,500	180	$210,000	-2.55%
Algonquin	214	$235,000	190	$227,000	-3.40%
Pistakee Highlands	33	$145,000	29	$140,000	-3.45%
Huntley	225	$254,500	188	$240,500	-5.50%
Richmond	27	$140,000	29	$126,000	-10.00%
Lakewood	44	$379,250	53	$340,000	-10.35%
Barrington Hills	11	$521,500	10	$431,750	-17.21%

Source: Blockshopper.com; McHenry County Recorder