Property tax on a New York home

New York City: tax classes

The city puts every property in a tax class, and the class decides how it is valued and taxed. Class 1 is one-, two- and three-unit residential property, which covers most houses. Class 2 is residential property with more than three units, including co-ops and condos (NYC Department of Finance).

Each class is assessed at a different share of market value: 6% for class 1, and 45% for class 2 (as for classes 3 and 4). Increases are limited too: a class 1 assessment can rise by no more than 6% a year and 20% over five years, and a class 2 building with ten or fewer units by 8% a year and 30% over five years; changes on larger buildings are phased in over time (NYC Department of Finance). That is why two homes of the same value can pay very different tax.

How co-ops and condos are valued

For a class 1 house, the city estimates market value from sales of similar homes nearby over the past three years. Co-ops and condos are different: in the Department of Finance's words, the law requires it to value co-ops and condos "as if they were rental buildings", even though they don't produce rental income (NYC Department of Finance). So a co-op or condo's market value on the tax roll is usually not what the apartments would sell for.

The bill itself is worked out in three steps: the assessed value, less any exemptions, gives the taxable value; that is multiplied by the class's tax rate; then abatements are subtracted from the result (NYC Department of Finance).

Who gets the bill. Each condo unit is its own tax parcel, assessed and taxed separately, so a condo owner pays the tax directly (Real Property Law §339-y). A co-op building is one property; its tax is part of what your maintenance pays, apportioned by your shares (Brick Underground). Our co-op or condo guide explains what that means for comparing monthly costs.

The co-op and condo abatement

The Cooperative and Condominium Property Tax Abatement reduces the tax on qualifying apartments. You don't apply yourself: the condo's board of managers or the co-op's board of directors applies for the whole building. Your unit qualifies if it is your primary residence, you own no more than three residential units in the development, and the unit isn't held by a business such as an LLC (with limited exceptions); the building must be in class 2 and not receiving certain other tax benefits (NYC Department of Finance).

The Department of Finance publishes the abatement as a percentage of the tax, depending on the average assessed value of the building's residential units: 28.1% where that average is $50,000 or less, 25.2% from $50,001 to $55,000, 22.5% from $55,001 to $60,000, and 17.5% above $60,000. A buyer must have bought by 5 January to count for the tax year starting the following 1 July, and the board's application deadline is 15 February (NYC Department of Finance). If you buy a co-op or condo to live in, tell the managing agent so they include you.

STAR: the school tax relief

STAR reduces school taxes on a primary residence; in New York City the benefit is split between city and school taxes. There are two forms. The STAR credit is for new applicants; the STAR exemption is no longer available to new homeowners, though people who have had it continuously can keep it on the same home (NY Department of Taxation and Finance).

The income limits are published by the Tax Department. Basic STAR: $500,000 or less for the credit, $250,000 or less for the exemption. Enhanced STAR, for owners aged 65 or over: $110,750 or less for 2026–27, and $113,550 or less for 2027–28 (NY Department of Taxation and Finance). Income counts only the owners and spouses who live in the home, and the benefit is calculated on a set slice of the home's value rather than a share of your bill. Register with the state if you're buying a home to live in.

How to find a property's actual tax

Before you make an offer, look up the property's real figures rather than relying on a listing. In New York City, the Department of Finance's Property Tax Public Access portal searches by address or borough-block-lot number and shows the tax class, market value, tax bills, notices of property value and exemptions (NYC Department of Finance). ACRIS, the city's register, lets you find a property's borough-block-lot number and see recorded documents such as deeds, for Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx (NYC Department of Finance).

For a co-op, the building's tax sits inside the maintenance, so ask the managing agent for the current maintenance, what share of it is tax, and whether the building receives the abatement. For a condo, check the unit's own bill, and ask whether it shows any abatement or exemption that won't carry over to you.

The Hamptons: town, school and district taxes

On the East End the property tax is not one tax but the sum of several. In the Town of Southampton, the assessor's roll covers 13 school districts, 21 fire districts, nine lighting districts, nine ambulance districts and two water districts, across more than 51,000 parcels and seven incorporated villages (Town of Southampton Assessor). The town's Receiver of Taxes sends the bills and collects money for school and library districts, police, highway and parks, fire and ambulance, lighting, water and erosion control districts, working from the tax roll and warrant it receives from the Suffolk County Legislature (Town of Southampton Receiver of Taxes). Two houses of the same value in different districts can pay noticeably different tax.

Assessments and equalisation. New York towns may assess at full market value or at a fraction of it, as long as every assessment in the town is at the same percentage. The state measures each town's level with an equalisation rate: total assessed value divided by total market value, so a rate below 100 means assessments are below market value (NYS Office of Real Property Tax Services). Southampton says the latest equalisation rate and residential assessment ratio published by the state for the town is 59.7% (Town of Southampton). The rate is an average for the whole town, not a measure of any one house.

If you think an assessment is too high, the assessor's office explains how to challenge it; in Southampton, Grievance Day is the third Tuesday in May (Town of Southampton Assessor). East Hampton has its own assessor and procedures; we couldn't check its website, so ask the town directly. Southampton's Receiver of Taxes has an online portal to view and pay a parcel's bills (Town of Southampton).

How our tools estimate tax

When you don't enter a property's tax, our property analysis, rent-or-buy and affordability tools estimate it as a share of the price: 0.8% a year in Manhattan and 0.35% in the Hamptons, with a co-op's tax treated as part of the maintenance. These are rough working figures, not rates, and as this guide shows, real bills depend on the class, the assessment, the district and any abatement or exemption. Each tool marks the figure as an estimate. Replace it with the property's actual bill or maintenance as soon as you have it: in the property analysis, rent or buy and the affordability calculator.