Franklin County has released its 2026 property value update and the average residential property value increased approximately 9%. That is far below the shocking 41% increase many homeowners experienced during the 2023 reappraisal, but let's not pretend this is a small story. A 9% increase on a $200,000 home is $18,000. A 9% increase on a $300,000 home is $27,000. A 9% increase on a $400,000 home is $36,000. The numbers add up quickly.

What Franklin County has not clearly explained is where the biggest increases occurred and which communities are absorbing the largest impact. Did New Albany see the biggest jump? Dublin? Upper Arlington? Bexley? Gahanna? Whitehall? Reynoldsburg? South Linden? The Near East Side? King-Lincoln Bronzeville? The public deserves to know exactly where property values are rising the fastest and who is being affected the most.

This is where the conversation gets uncomfortable. If you own a home free and clear, rising property values can increase your net worth. If you are an investor, rising property values can increase your profits. If you are a developer, rising property values can increase your leverage. But if you are a senior citizen living on a fixed income, a working family already struggling with inflation, or a renter hoping to someday buy a home, rising property values can make staying in your neighborhood even harder.

Franklin County already has property tax rates that rank among the highest in Ohio, with homeowners often paying thousands of dollars each year in property taxes depending on where they live.

The Black Wall is asking questions that should already have answers. How many Black homeowners over age 60 are living in neighborhoods experiencing rapid appreciation? How many homes are now owned by investors instead of families? How many longtime residents have sold because they could no longer afford rising housing costs? How many Black families are buying homes compared to the number being purchased by investment groups and out-of-state buyers?

The average increase may be 9%, but averages often hide the real story. If one neighborhood increased 3% and another increased 20%, the average tells us very little about what is actually happening on the ground.

The real question is not whether property values are rising. The real question is whether Black families are building wealth fast enough to benefit from those increases or whether they are being priced out of the communities they helped build.

The Black Wall is requesting a complete neighborhood-by-neighborhood breakdown of Franklin County's 2026 property value increases. Until those numbers are released, residents should be asking one simple question:

Who is getting richer from these increases, and who is being left behind?

Marty Sutton

The Black Wall