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Second-installment property tax bills are due September 1. Before you pay it, here's what that 8.2% assessment jump actually means, and what it doesn't. |
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DuPage County mailed roughly 322,000 property tax bills this year, and the number that caught everyone's eye was the county-wide assessed value increase: 8.2%. Average tax bills rose 3.83% even as the tax rate itself dropped. If your bill jumped and your first thought was “wait, is this market about to correct?" You're not alone, and it's a fair question. It's also the wrong read on what an assessment notice actually tells you. |
| 1. An Assessment Is a Rearview Mirror, Not a Windshield |
Illinois property taxes are billed in arrears, the 2025 tax year bill arrives in 2026, based on comparable sales from the period before. That means your assessment isn't predicting where the market is headed. It's confirming where it's already been. An 8.2% county-wide jump in assessed value doesn't warn of a bubble; it's the paperwork finally catching up to sales that already closed. |
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We've spent the last few issues proving this from the MLS side: destination towns in this corridor - Wheaton, Winfield, Warrenville, Glen Ellyn - appreciated 4.9% to 7.7% over the last twelve months, while origin towns - Carol Stream, Lombard, West Chicago - posted 1.6% to 5.7%. DuPage County overall sits at +5.4% on rolling 12-month median sale price. Two different metrics, worth keeping separate, assessed value growth reflects the county's equalization process and includes new construction, while median sale price is what an actual single-family home changes hands for, but they're pointing in the same direction from two independent sources: your assessor's office and the MLS. |
  Corridor Watch Southwestern Real Estate continues to represent both ends of this corridor: an origin-town listing in Glendale Heights working through pre-marketing steps, and a move-up prospect just south of Roosevelt Road in Wheaton. Updates on both once they clear for public marketing. |
This Week in DuPage: Aug 3 - 9 |
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| The Bottom Line |
A bigger tax bill doesn't feel like good news in the moment, but read correctly, it's confirmation, not warning. The county's own numbers and the MLS's numbers arrived at the same place independently. This corridor's values are up, real and verified. If you're sitting on equity and wondering whether the run continues, both your assessor and your MLS just told you the same thing. |
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