For the first time since the pandemic-era run-up, some Texas homeowners are seeing their appraised values fall — a shift that, paired with this year’s larger homestead exemption, should ease the tax burden on many households when bills arrive this fall.
In Travis County, the appraisal district reported that single-family homes declined an average of 1.8% in 2026, which officials attributed to a stabilizing housing market after years of unsustainable price gains. The Travis Central Appraisal District mailed notices to more than 427,000 property owners beginning in late March, reflecting values as of January 1.
The residential cooling has not erased overall growth in the tax base. According to the Travis district, the county’s total appraisal roll still rose 5.48% to about $482 billion, driven by gains in healthcare, industrial and office commercial property rather than homes. The 2026 median market value for a residential homestead in the county is $493,449, with a median taxable value of $384,747 — the taxable figure held down by exemptions that grew this year.
The larger exemption is the piece most likely to reach homeowners’ bottom lines. Under Proposition 13, which Texas voters approved in November 2025, the school-district homestead exemption rose from $100,000 to $140,000 for tax year 2026, with an additional $60,000 for homeowners who are 65 or older or disabled.
The Texas Comptroller has estimated the higher exemption will save the average homeowner about $560 a year on school property taxes. Because school maintenance-and-operations levies are the largest slice of most Texas tax bills, a flat cooling in home values on top of a higher exemption compounds in the taxpayer’s favor.
Local rate-setting will decide how much of that relief households keep. Under the truth-in-taxation timeline set by Senate Bill 2 in 2019, chief appraisers certify their appraisal rolls to taxing units by July 25, cities, counties and school districts hold rate hearings in August, and voters can be asked to ratify rates above the voter-approval threshold in November. A lower certified value lowers the base to which those rates apply, but a taxing unit that raises its rate can offset part of the benefit.
The certified rolls also feed the school-finance system that has drawn the sharpest reform debate. Lower taxable values reduce the amount some property-wealthy districts owe under recapture, the “Robin Hood” mechanism that redirects local revenue to the state; the 2025 relief package’s fiscal note projected recapture attendance-credit payments would fall by roughly $91.7 million in fiscal 2026. That is a modest trim against a system that, by the Texas School Coalition’s count, still moved more than $2.3 billion from 192 districts in 2025-26 — a reminder that appraisal relief and structural finance reform are separate levers.
The appraisal picture is not uniform statewide. Fast-growing exurban counties are still posting increases even as core-urban residential values flatten, and commercial-driven roll growth like Travis County’s shows that a headline “roll up” can coexist with lower homeowner bills. The details will land county by county as certified values post through late July.
The debate over how far to press relief continues in the background. Governor Greg Abbott has promoted a five-point plan that would tighten appraisal caps and require broader voter approval of local tax increases, while Lt. Governor Dan Patrick has been more cautious about a stricter appraisal cap and some analysts have called that piece the riskiest.