Philadelphia Property Taxes Are Changing for 2027: What Homeowners Need to Know

Eric Gerchberg

Sep 3

9 min read

Updated: 3 days ago

Nothing gets a homeowner’s attention quite like a letter from the City of Philadelphia with a new number attached to their house.

If you’ve recently received a 2027 Notice of Proposed Valuation, or looked up your property online and thought, “Wait... the City thinks my house is worth WHAT?”, you’re definitely not the only one.

Philadelphia has completed a citywide reassessment for the 2027 tax year, updating the values of more than 580,000 residential, commercial, industrial and institutional properties. The new assessments take effect January 1, 2027. You can read the City's 2027 reassessment announcement here.

For the median-valued residential property, the City originally estimated the change in the 2027 Real Estate Tax bill at about $97. But that is a citywide estimate. What happens to your bill depends on your individual assessment and any tax-relief programs that apply to your property.

So, what exactly should you be looking at?

Philadelphia homes featured in a guide to the 2027 property tax reassessment

And maybe more importantly:

Does the City’s new assessment mean that’s what your house would actually sell for?

Not necessarily.

Let’s break this down without requiring a degree in municipal taxation.

First: What Changed With Philadelphia Property Assessments for 2027?

The Office of Property Assessment, usually referred to as OPA, is responsible for assigning a market value to every property in Philadelphia.

For the 2027 tax year, OPA conducted another citywide revaluation.

The City says it uses a combination of market data, recent sales, property characteristics, aerial and street-level imagery, and Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal technology to determine those values. For residential properties, OPA says it considers factors including the property’s size, age, location, condition and recent sales of similar properties. You can review the City's property assessment information here.

That last part is important.

Because it sounds a lot like what we do when we're determining the market value of a home.

But there’s a major difference.

OPA has to value more than half a million properties.

When Melanie and I are pricing one house for a client, we can walk through it. We can see the kitchen. We can see whether the floors were replaced last year or last replaced when Friends was still on television. We can see whether the house gets beautiful natural light, backs up to a parking lot, has a garage, has a finished basement, has a roof deck, or has the world's most terrifying third-floor bathroom.

Those details matter to buyers.

A mass-assessment system cannot always see all of them.

That's one reason an assessment and true market value can sometimes be different.

Philadelphia property assessment information for the 2027 tax year

Assessment, Market Value and Property Tax Bill Are Three Different Things

These terms get used interchangeably, but they really shouldn’t be.

Your assessed value

This is the value OPA has assigned to your property for tax purposes.

You can look up your current and historical assessment using the City’s Philadelphia Property Search.

Your market value

This is what a buyer would reasonably be willing to pay for your property in the current real estate market.

That number is influenced by comparable sales, condition, upgrades, layout, parking, outdoor space, location, competition, interest rates and what buyers are actually doing right now.

It's the number we're trying to determine when we prepare a Comparative Market Analysis for a homeowner.

Your property tax bill

This is based on the taxable assessed value of your property and Philadelphia's Real Estate Tax rate.

Philadelphia's current Real Estate Tax rate is 1.3998%, combining the City and School District portions. The City's published tax-rate schedule lists that same total rate for tax years 2025 through 2029. You can find the City's Real Estate Tax information here.

Your taxable value may be lower than your full assessment if you qualify for an exemption or another tax-relief program.

Which brings us to something every Philadelphia homeowner should check.

Make Sure You Have the Philadelphia Homestead Exemption

If you own your Philadelphia home and use it as your primary residence, you may qualify for the City’s Homestead Exemption.

For 2027, the Homestead Exemption removes $100,000 from the taxable portion of your assessed value. The City says that saves most participating homeowners approximately $1,399 per year.

There is no income limit or age requirement. You simply need to own the property and live there as your primary residence.

If you're already enrolled, you generally do not need to reapply unless something changes with the ownership or deed.

If you're not enrolled and you're eligible, the application deadline for the 2027 tax year is December 1, 2026.

You can also use the City’s property search to see whether the Homestead Exemption is already attached to your home.

This is one of those five-minute tasks that can be worth considerably more than five minutes.

So... Is Your New Philadelphia Assessment Correct?

This is where things get interesting.

If the City assessed your property at $800,000, that does not automatically mean:

Congratulations. Your house is worth exactly $800,000.

Nor does an assessment of $650,000 necessarily mean you couldn't sell it for $800,000.

An assessment is a tax valuation.

A real-world market valuation is based on what buyers are actually willing to pay.

The two can overlap. Sometimes they're surprisingly close.

Sometimes they're not.

If you want to sanity-check your assessment, start by looking at recent sales of properties that are genuinely similar to yours.

And this is where I'd be careful with Zillow, Redfin or a quick neighborhood search.

A nearby sale is not automatically a comparable sale.

If your home is a 2,000-square-foot renovated three-bedroom rowhome with parking, comparing it with a 1,400-square-foot fixer-upper without parking simply because it sold two blocks away isn't particularly useful.

When we evaluate comparable sales, we're looking at things like:

Location
Property type
Interior square footage
Lot size
Condition and renovations
Number of bedrooms and bathrooms
Parking
Outdoor space
Finished basement space
Width and layout
Age and quality of construction
When the property sold
What else was competing with it at the time

And in Philadelphia, sometimes moving just a few blocks can matter.

That's especially true when you cross neighborhood boundaries, major streets, school catchments, commercial corridors or other features that buyers clearly value differently.

The goal is not to find a house that looks vaguely similar online.

The goal is to understand what your house would compete with if it went on the market today.

Philadelphia rowhome illustrating the difference between assessed value and market value

My Assessment Went Up. Does That Mean I Should Appeal It?

Not necessarily.

A big increase by itself is not grounds for an appeal.

The City specifically says the financial impact or percentage increase in your assessment is not enough on its own to justify a First Level Review.

In other words:

“My assessment went up 30% and I don't like it.”

Understandable.

Not necessarily an appeal case.

The question is whether the new value itself is wrong.

The City says an assessment challenge can be based on issues such as:

The estimated market value being too high or too low
Important property characteristics being substantially incorrect
Your property not being assessed uniformly compared with similar properties
An exemption or abatement being incorrect or missing

So before deciding to appeal, take a closer look at the City's records.

Is the square footage right?

Is the property type right?

Does it show improvements that don't exist?

Does it appear to assume a condition that doesn't match your home?

How does the assessment compare with recent legitimate comparable sales?

That is a much stronger starting point than simply looking at how much the number increased.

How Do You Appeal a 2027 Philadelphia Property Assessment?

Philadelphia homeowners have two primary paths.

First Level Review

A First Level Review, or FLR, is an informal review performed by the Office of Property Assessment.

You can submit supporting information such as photographs or a recent appraisal that helps explain why you believe the valuation is incorrect.

The City's current OPA guidance lists October 5, 2026 as the deadline for submitting a 2027 First Level Review. Check the current OPA property assessment page before filing.

One note because this may save you some confusion: earlier City materials listed September 1 as the FLR deadline. The City's current live OPA page now says October 5.

So if you saw September 1 somewhere and thought you were losing your mind, you weren't.

Formal Board of Revision of Taxes Appeal

You may also file a formal market-value appeal with Philadelphia's Board of Revision of Taxes.

The deadline for a 2027 market-value appeal is also October 5, 2026.

You do not have to wait for a First Level Review to be completed before filing a formal appeal. The City allows homeowners to pursue the formal BRT process separately from the FLR process. The City's assessment appeal page is here.

If you're considering an appeal, read the City's current instructions carefully and consider speaking with a qualified property-tax attorney, appraiser or other appropriate professional about your individual situation.

We're real estate agents, not tax attorneys.

And nobody needs us pretending otherwise.

Philadelphia City Hall and the property assessment appeal process

What Evidence Can Help Support an Assessment Appeal?

This is the part of the process where actual real estate data becomes particularly useful.

If you're challenging the City's estimate of market value, you want evidence showing what comparable properties were actually selling for.

Good evidence could include:

Comparable sales of similar properties
Photos showing the actual condition of your home
A professional appraisal
Documentation showing incorrect information in the City's property record
Information demonstrating that similar properties have been assessed differently

The BRT says an appeal should demonstrate that the estimated market value is incorrect, the property isn't assessed uniformly with comparable properties, or important property characteristics are wrong. You can read the BRT property assessment appeal guidance here.

This is also why I'd resist the temptation to simply find the three cheapest sales in your ZIP code.

Comparable sales need to actually be comparable.

Otherwise, they're just inexpensive houses you found on the internet.

Philadelphia Has Other Property Tax Relief Programs Too

The Homestead Exemption is the program most Philadelphia homeowners probably know about, but it isn't the only one.

The City offers several programs that may reduce a homeowner's bill or make it easier to manage.

Longtime Owner Occupants Program — LOOP

The Longtime Owner Occupants Program is designed for eligible homeowners who have lived in their home for at least 10 years and have experienced a substantial increase in assessment.

Eligibility also depends on household income and other requirements. The City increased the income limits for LOOP in 2026.

Senior Citizen and Low-Income Real Estate Tax Freeze

Eligible homeowners can have their Real Estate Tax frozen so future assessment or tax-rate increases don't raise their bill above the frozen amount.

Real Estate Tax Installment Plan

Eligible homeowners can pay the current year's Real Estate Tax in monthly installments instead of making one large payment by March 31. The City says all qualifying seniors can use this program regardless of income, while some other homeowners qualify based on household income.

Owner-Occupied Real Estate Tax Payment Agreement

The OOPA program is designed for homeowners who are having difficulty paying delinquent property taxes. Payment terms are based in part on income, and the City says some homeowners can qualify for a payment agreement as low as zero dollars per month.

The City maintains a central Philadelphia Real Estate Tax Relief resource where homeowners can review current eligibility requirements and deadlines.

If your assessment changed significantly, it's worth taking a few minutes to see whether one of these programs applies to you.

Does Your Philadelphia Assessment Affect What Your House Is Worth?

This is probably the question we're most likely to get.

Not directly.

Buyers don't generally decide how much they'll pay for a home by looking at the City's assessed value and adding 10%.

The market determines value.

If six similar renovated houses around you sold between $850,000 and $900,000, the fact that OPA assessed yours at $725,000 doesn't magically make your house a $725,000 property.

The reverse is true too.

If your new assessment jumped to $1 million but similar houses are consistently selling for $850,000, the assessment itself doesn't create an extra $150,000 of market value.

This is why we distinguish between:

Tax assessment: what the City has determined for taxation.

Market analysis: what the current real estate market tells us buyers are likely to pay.

They're related to the same property.

They answer different questions.

What Should Philadelphia Homeowners Do Right Now?

You don't need to turn this into a second job.

Start with three things.

Look up your new assessment.

Use the City's property search and compare the 2027 value with your previous assessment.

Check your exemptions.

If the property is your primary residence, make sure your Homestead Exemption is showing. Then look at the City's other relief programs if your situation may qualify.

Decide whether the assessment looks reasonable.

Look at what you know about your home and at genuinely comparable recent sales.

If something clearly doesn't add up, don't wait until October 4 at 11:47 PM to start figuring it out.

Philadelphia's current deadline for both a First Level Review and a formal 2027 market-value appeal is October 5, 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions About Philadelphia's 2027 Property Reassessment

When do Philadelphia's new 2027 property assessments take effect?

The new assessments take effect January 1, 2027. Real Estate Tax bills are generally mailed beginning in December, with payment due March 31, 2027.

Can I appeal my 2027 Philadelphia property assessment?

Yes. Property owners who believe their assessment is incorrect can request a First Level Review through OPA and/or file a formal market-value appeal with the Board of Revision of Taxes. The City's current deadline for both is October 5, 2026.

Does a higher assessment mean my house is worth that amount?

Not necessarily. OPA assessments are used for taxation. A property's likely selling price is determined by current market conditions and comparable sales.

Is the Homestead Exemption available to every Philadelphia homeowner?

It is available to homeowners who own and occupy their Philadelphia property as their primary residence. There is no income or age requirement. For 2027, it exempts $100,000 of assessed value from taxation.