We've been arguing back and forth about which source to trust in counting foreclosures in the Tampa Bay area.

Some say non-governmental, independent sources such as RealtyTrac and Realtors can't be trusted. They argue we shouldon the counties for the data.

Looks like the Pinellas County property appraiser's office doesn't trust its own math and has turned to the...gulp...Realtors to get an accurate foreclosure roll. Here's the announcement:

The Pinellas REALTOR® Organization (PRO) today announced that it has formed a partnership with Pinellas County Property Appraiser Pam Dubov, through which PRO will share sales information on short sales and foreclosed properties. 

This partnership will allow the Property Appraiser’s Office to more accurately and efficiently identify sold short sale and foreclosure properties, and include them in their analysis when preparing the county’s tax roll. By including these transactions in the valuation process, the tax roll will better reflect the realities of today’s real estate market.

In the past, foreclosures were typically disqualified from consideration when property values were determined since they were not arms length transactions. Now, with the current downturn in the real estate industry, many property appraisers across the state have realized that to accurately determine a home’s fair market value they must consider the effect of short sales and foreclosures.

According to Ann Guiberson, President and CEO of PRO, “including short sale and foreclosure properties in the appraisal of area homes will reduce values on the tax roll and possibly property taxes for homeowners in Pinellas County since those values will recognize the many distressed sales that are part of today’s market.”

Gathering accurate information about short sales and foreclosures can be a time consuming and labor intensive because many home buyers are reluctant to respond to letters from the Property Appraiser’s Office asking about the circumstances of sales transactions and the condition of the purchased property. 

“We would like homeowners to know that information they provide about distressed sales will help us to justify the inclusion of those sales in our market analysis, and will be used to identify areas that have been hit particularly hard by foreclosures,” said Dubov.  “The data provided by PRO will help us ensure that this year’s property value roll is a fair reflection of a 2008 market that was glutted with foreclosures and short sales."