Property values across the Snoqualmie Valley and greater Eastside have dropped, the King County Assessor’s Office announced in a statement Thursday.

The announcement comes as the county assessor’s office has begun its annual process of mailing property valuation notices to taxpayers.

Values fell by 18% in Issaquah/Preston/Snoqualmie Ridge; 12.2% in Duvall; 10.9% in North Bend/Snoqualmie; and 12.5% in Carnation/Fall City.

According to the assessor’s office, 2023 property values continued to be dramatically affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

A lack of inventory for sale pushed residential property values to all-time highs in the spring of 2022. Values have since corrected themselves, moving downwards throughout the region. That trend was especially pronounced on the Eastside, the office said.

“COVID changed our lives, and it continues to impact the real estate market,“ King County Assessor John Wilson said in a press release.

In 2020 and 2021 residential prices and value went “through the roof” because people chose not to put homes on the market, Wilson said, causing a major imbalance between supply and demand. Housing demand is still healthy but has cooled considerably since 2022, he said.

The assessor’s office emphasized it is important to remember that voter approved levies have more impact on property tax increases than changes in home values.

The total amount of property tax collected is derived from the budgets passed by state, county, and local governments, and by locally approved levies. The value of each property determines proportionally how much each taxpayer will pay of that total amount.

According to median residential value data from King County, the median home in Snoqualmie was valued at $1.1 million in 2023 and paid $9,698 in property taxes. In North Bend, the median home was valued at $992,000 in 2023 and paid $8,513 in property taxes.