Oakwood, Ohio Home Values Jumped in the 2026 Reappraisal — Here's What It Means for Your Tax Bill

Montgomery County's 2026 reappraisal and a Homestead Exemption guide for Oakwood, Springfield, Ohio, and Miami Valley homeowners

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Published October 2026 · Updated October 2026 · By Douglas Haney & The Haney Group, Springfield, OH

Douglas Haney leads The Haney Group at Coldwell Banker Heritage, helping buyers and sellers navigate Oakwood, Springfield, Ohio, and the surrounding Dayton and Central Ohio market every day.

Quick Answer

Montgomery County's 2026 reappraisal raised residential property values in Oakwood, Ohio and the rest of the county by an average of about 19%. Clark County — home to Springfield, Ohio, where our team is based — saw an even bigger average jump, around 32%, on bills due in 2026. In both cases, a higher assessed value does not mean an equal jump in your tax bill, and homeowners 65 or older, disabled, or a qualifying surviving spouse may be able to shield $29,000 to $58,000 of their home's value from taxation through Ohio's Homestead Exemption.

If you opened your new value notice this year and did a double take, you're not imagining it. Montgomery County — Oakwood's home county — just finished its 2026 reappraisal, and the average residential increase came in around 19% countywide. Over in Clark County, where our office sits in Springfield, Ohio, the number was even bigger: about 32%.

I've been fielding calls about this all summer, and the two questions I hear most are always the same: "Does my tax bill really go up that much?" and "Is there anything I can actually do about it?" The short answers are no, and yes — and this post walks through both, plus the one program that quietly saves qualifying Ohio homeowners real money every single year: the Homestead Exemption.

~19% Avg. residential value increase, Montgomery County (Oakwood) 2026 reappraisal

~32% Avg. increase, Clark County (Springfield, Ohio) — bills due 2026

$41,000 2026 Homestead Exemption income limit (MAGI, based on 2025 income)

Sources: Dayton 24/7 Now · Springfield News-Sun · Clark County Auditor

Why Did My Oakwood, Ohio Home's Value Jump So Much in 2026?

Ohio law requires every county to run a full property reappraisal every six years, with a lighter statistical update at the three-year mark in between. 2026 was Montgomery County's turn, and Montgomery County's auditor, Karl Keith, reported that total countywide real estate value climbed from roughly $39 billion to nearly $46 billion, with the average residential parcel landing around 19% higher than before. The county even held a public forum right in Oakwood, at the Wright Memorial Public Library, so residents could ask questions in person.

Clark County — our home base in Springfield, Ohio — went through its own reappraisal on a similar timeline, and Clark County Auditor Hillary Hamilton told the Springfield News-Sun that values there rose an average of about 32%, with the new numbers showing up on tax bills due in 2026. If you own property in both counties, or you're comparing notes with family in Springfield while you live in Oakwood, this is why the two numbers don't match — they're two different counties on two overlapping-but-not-identical reappraisal clocks.

💡 Haney Group Insight

Here's what I tell every homeowner who calls me panicking about their new value notice: the number on that notice is a starting point for your tax calculation, not a prediction of your new bill. Read the next section before you do anything else.

Does a Bigger Home Value Mean a Bigger Tax Bill?

No — not dollar-for-dollar. Ohio has had a law on the books since the 1970s, House Bill 920, built specifically to stop property tax bills from rising in lockstep with reappraised values. Both auditors involved in this year's numbers made the same point in almost the same words: Montgomery County's office told Dayton 24/7 Now that "a 19% increase in your property's value does not mean you'll see a 19% increase in your property tax bill," and Clark County's Hillary Hamilton told the Springfield News-Sun essentially the same thing about the 32% figure.

Here's the mechanic in plain English: most of your tax bill is made up of voted levies — fixed dollar amounts a levy is approved to collect. When county-wide values rise, the state applies a reduction factor to most of those levies so the total dollars collected stays roughly where voters approved it, rather than ballooning automatically. You'll still likely see some increase (new levies, inflationary levies, and a handful of other factors aren't fully offset), but it will not track your value increase one-for-one.

❌ Myth "My home's value went up 19% (or 32%), so my property tax bill is about to go up 19% (or 32%) too."

✅ Fact Ohio's House Bill 920 reduction factor keeps most voted levies collecting roughly the same total dollars even as values rise, so your bill will almost certainly rise by a smaller percentage than your new value did — not the same percentage.

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What To Do When Your New Value Notice Arrives

✅	Read the notice carefully and confirm the square footage, bed/bath count, and lot size are actually correct for your home.
✅	Compare your new value to recent, genuinely comparable sales nearby — not a Zestimate, and not a neighbor's very different house.
✅	Request an informal review with your county auditor's office if the window is still open — it's free and often resolves simple errors fast.
✅	If the informal review doesn't resolve it, file a formal complaint with your County Board of Revision — in Ohio, that window generally runs January 1 through March 31 using DTE Form 1.
✅	Check whether you qualify for the Homestead Exemption before you do anything else — it's the one step most eligible homeowners actually forget to take.

How Does the Ohio Homestead Exemption Work in 2026?

The Homestead Exemption shields part of your home's value from taxation entirely, every year you qualify. In Ohio, you qualify if you're 65 or older, totally and permanently disabled, or the surviving spouse (at least 59 when your spouse passed) of someone who already qualified. For 2026 applications, your 2025 modified adjusted gross income can't exceed $41,000 — though if you were already approved before January 1, 2014, the income test doesn't apply to you at all.

If you qualify under the standard program, Ohio exempts the first $29,000 of your home's auditor-appraised value from taxation. Put a real number on it: on a home appraised at $200,000, you'd pay taxes as if it were worth $171,000. Honorably discharged veterans with a 100% service-connected disability rating, and surviving spouses of public safety officers killed in the line of duty, qualify for an enhanced version that exempts the first $58,000 instead — on that same $200,000 home, you'd be taxed on $142,000.

This is exactly the kind of program I walk clients through constantly, and it's the one I see missed the most. I've sat across the table from retirees in Oakwood and Springfield, Ohio alike who'd been overpaying for years simply because nobody ever told them to file the form.

How to Apply for the Homestead Exemption

1	Confirm you meet the age, disability, or surviving-spouse test You must also own and occupy the home as your primary residence as of January 1 of the application year.
2	Check your income against the current-year MAGI limit For 2026, that's $41,000 based on your 2025 income — unless you were grandfathered in before 2014.
3	File Form DTE 105A with your county auditor You can file any time between January 1 and December 31 of the application year — there's no need to rush it to a single deadline date.
4	Re-apply only if your situation changes Once approved, the exemption carries forward automatically each year as long as you continue to qualify.

I'll add one honest note here: there's ongoing talk at the Statehouse about expanding Homestead relief further for seniors. Nothing beyond what's described above is law yet, so don't plan your budget around a bigger exemption that hasn't passed — but it's worth asking your county auditor's office each year whether anything has changed, since this is an area state lawmakers keep revisiting.

What This Means for Oakwood and Springfield, Ohio Homeowners Right Now

If you're in Oakwood or elsewhere in Montgomery County, your new value is already set for this cycle — the question now is simply whether it's accurate, and whether you're capturing every exemption you're entitled to. If you're in Springfield, Ohio or elsewhere in Clark County, the bigger 32% average increase means it's worth a closer look if you haven't already requested a review.

Either way, this is also a conversation worth having before you buy or sell. Buyers budgeting for a home in Oakwood, Centerville, or Springfield, Ohio should ask what the post-reappraisal tax bill looks like, not just the pre-reappraisal number a listing might still show — browsing homes across our Southwest and Central Ohio service area or running a live search on current listings is a good way to see what today's tax picture actually looks like in practice. Sellers should expect buyers — and their lenders — to ask the same question, and a clear answer builds trust instead of surprises at closing.

"The number on that notice is a starting point for your tax calculation, not a prediction of your new bill."

DH	"Every reappraisal year, I get the same worried calls, and every year my advice is the same: don't react to the notice, react to the math. Check your comps, check your exemptions, and only then decide if an appeal makes sense. That's the order that actually saves people money." — Doug Haney

Frequently Asked Questions

How much did property values go up in the 2026 Montgomery County reappraisal?

Residential property values in Montgomery County, including Oakwood, rose by an average of about 19% countywide in the 2026 reappraisal. Clark County, home to Springfield, Ohio, saw an even larger average increase of about 32% on the cycle affecting bills due in 2026.

Does a 19% (or 32%) higher value mean my property tax bill goes up by the same percentage?

No. Ohio's House Bill 920 reduction factor adjusts most voted levies so they continue collecting roughly the same total dollars as values rise, which means your tax bill will typically increase by a smaller percentage than your new value did.

Who qualifies for the Ohio Homestead Exemption in 2026?

You qualify if you're 65 or older, totally and permanently disabled, or a qualifying surviving spouse, and your 2025 modified adjusted gross income doesn't exceed $41,000 (unless you were approved before 2014, which waives the income test).

How much money does the Homestead Exemption actually save me?

The standard exemption removes $29,000 of your home's appraised value from taxation. Qualifying 100%-disabled veterans and surviving spouses of public safety officers killed in the line of duty get an enhanced $58,000 exemption.

How do I apply for the Homestead Exemption?

File Form DTE 105A with your county auditor's office any time between January 1 and December 31 of the application year. Once approved, it carries forward automatically each year you continue to qualify.

What if I think my new property value is too high?

Start with a free informal review through your county auditor's office. If that doesn't resolve it, Ohio law generally allows a formal complaint with your County Board of Revision between January 1 and March 31 using DTE Form 1.

Whether you're in Oakwood watching a 19% jump or in Springfield, Ohio looking at 32%, the math is more forgiving than the notice makes it feel — and the Homestead Exemption is real money sitting on the table for a lot of qualifying homeowners who've simply never filed the form. If you want help sorting out what your specific number means, or you're weighing whether this is the year to buy or sell, get a free home value estimate or reach out and we'll walk through it together. You can also grab our free Ohio Home Guide, and if you're curious what else goes into the cost side of a move, our closing costs breakdown and title insurance guide cover the rest of what you'll see at the closing table.

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The Haney Group at Coldwell Banker Heritage · (937) 821-8103 · thehaneygroup.com