The ratio of earnings per share available to common stockholders of a specific company for an accounting period to the market price per share of the common stock of that company. The reciprocal of the E/P ratio is the price-earnings ratio (P/E). The E/P ratio is a direct capitalization rate for equity and not a yield rate.

(1) Broadly, any non-possessory interest held by one person in land possessed by another whereby the first person is accorded partial use of such land or the second person is restricted in the use of his or her land. (2) A right held by one person to use the land of another for a specific purpose, such as access to other property. (3) In a restricted sense, a non-possessory interest held by one person, by reason of his or her possession of a given piece of land (the dominant estate), in a second piece of land possessed by another (the servient estate), whereby the first person is accorded partial use of the second piece of land without the privilege of taking a portion of its substance. Note: The non-possessory interests in land that are included in the first of the above definitions but not in the second are: (1) Servitudes, in which there is not necessarily a dominant estate in land; (2) profits a prendre, which are rights to take the substance of, or income from, the servient estate; and (3) restrictions, which limit the possessor of the servient estate in the use of his or her land without according its partial use to the owner of the non-possessory interest.

Arises when an owner divides his or her property, sells part of it, and the purchaser cannot get to the part he or she bought without crossing the seller’s property.The purchaser acquires an easement over the seller’s property.

Arises when a non-owner continuously and openly uses property over a period of time and is not impeded by the property owner.

A right to use another's property, usually for a specified purpose. Utility easements and railroad rights-of-way are examples of easements in gross.

Gives one person the right to use another's land so long as the first person owns a specified piece of property. The easement attaches to the specified property, not to the person who owns it; when the title transfers, the easement also transfers.

(1) A cause of depreciation that is a loss in value as a result of impairment in utility and desirability caused by factors outside the property's boundaries. (2) Loss in value of a property (relative to the cost of replacing it with a property of equal utility) that stems from factors external to the property. For example, a buggy-whip factory, to the extent that it could not be used economically for anything else, suffered substantial economic obsolescence when automobiles replaced horse-drawn buggies.

A geographic area, typically encompassing a group of neighborhoods, defined on the basis that the properties within its boundaries are more or less equally subject to a set of one or more economic forces that largely determine the value of the properties in question.

The period during which a given tangible asset, building, or other improvement to property is expected to contribute (positively) to the value of the total property. This period is typically shorter than the period during which the improvement could be left on the property, that is, its physical life.

The typical age of a structure equivalent to the one in question with respect to its utility and condition, as of the appraisal date. Knowing the effective age of an old, rehabilitated structure or a building with substantial deferred maintenance is generally more important in establishing value than knowing the chronological age.

The potential gross rent, less vacancy and collection loss, plus miscellaneous income.

(1) The tax rate expressed as a percentage of market value; will be different from the nominal tax rate when the assessment ratio is not equal to 1. (2) The relationship between dollars of tax and dollars of market value of a property. The rate may be calculated either by dividing tax by value or by multiplying a property's assessment level by its nominal tax rate.

The actual return on an investment rather than the yield anticipated or promised when the investment is made. For example, when a bond sells for more than its face value, the effective yield will be below the coupon rate.

An outlet or exit or means of exiting.

(1) The responsiveness of supply and demand to changes in price. Supply or demand that changes rapidly in response to price changes is "elastic." Supply or demand that changes slowly in response to price changes is "inelastic." (2) A measure of the responsiveness of tax yields to changes in economic conditions. The yield of an elastic tax increases rapidly in a growing economy. The yield of an inelastic tax increases slowly. Often measured by the formula: percent change in tax percent change in personal income

The distance of a point above a specified surface of constant potential; the distance is measured along the direction of gravity between the point and the surface.

The right by which a sovereign government, or some person acting in its name and under its authority, may acquire private property for public or quasi-public use upon payment of reasonable compensation, but without consent of the owner. See also condemnation.

The unauthorized trespassing of an improvement on the domain of another person's land.

Any limitation that affects property rights and value.

The process of altering the appearance of an image so that the interpreter can extract more information. Enhancement may be done by digital or photographic methods.

A designated area within a depressed, usually inner-city, area in which firms are given favorable tax treatment and freedom from a number of planning constraints.

A report showing the results of investigation into environmental contamination. This report is often required by the EPA and other regulatory agencies to establish the extent of contamination. Depending on the type and extent of contamination suspected, "Phase I" or more extensive "Phase II" assessments may be required. See Phase I and II reports.

Any tangible substance or intangible occurrence that may degrade property, resulting in decreased utility or having an effect on value. See also physical contaminant and nonphysical contaminant.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency.

The process by which an appropriate governmental body attempts to ensure that all property under its jurisdiction is assessed at the same assessment ratio or at the ratio or ratios required by law. Equalization may be undertaken at many different levels. Equalization among use classes (such as agricultural and industrial property) may be undertaken at the local level, as may equalization among properties in a school district and a transportation district; equalization among counties is usually undertaken by the state to ensure that its aid payments are distributed fairly.

Assessed values after they have all been multiplied by common factors during equalization.

A state of rest achieved by a balance of the forces that impel change. A market is said to be in equilibrium when the factors of production are used in the production of an array of consumer goods that maximize consumer welfare.

(1) In assessment, the degree to which assessments bear a consistent relationship to market value. Measures include the coefficient of dispersion, coefficient of variation, and price-related differential. See also horizontal inequity and vertical inequity. (2) In popular usage, a synonym for tax fairness. (3) In ownership, the net value of property after liens and other charges have been subtracted.

Equity component of an overall direct capitalization rate. Computed by dividing equity earnings by the market value of equity.

A synonym for before-tax cash flow.

Sometimes referred to as the "market-to-book multiple." The ratio of the current market price per share to net book value per share of common stock.

A right recognized by courts of equity whereby a person who has transferred legal title to property as security for an obligation is permitted, after defaulting on the obligation, to retain possession of the property for such period as may be prescribed by law or by the court and to reacquire legal title to the property upon fulfillment of the obligation within such period.

(1) The required rate of return on equity capital. A component of the capitalization rate (or discount rate or mortgage-equity overall rate) that must be separately specified in band-of-investment analysis and mortgage-equity analysis. (2) The equity yield rate reflects all yield to equity, whether from annual cash flows or future reversions; considers the effect of debt financing on the cash flow of the equity investor.

A clause in an agreement that allows for an increase.

An assessment made outside the regular assessment period in order to correctly tax property that was not assessed during the regular assessment period.

The right to have property revert to the state for nonpayment of taxes or when there are no legal heirs of someone who dies without leaving a will.

(1) A written instrument that by its terms imparts a legal obligation but that is placed by the grantor in the hands of a third party, to be held by him or her until the occurrence or nonoccurrence of a specified event, and then only to be delivered to the grantee and to take effect. (2) The agreement under which such instrument is so placed, held, and conditionally delivered.

(1) The interest which a person possesses in a single concrete article of property. (2) The aggregate interests of any person in articles of property of all descriptions. (3) The aggregate property of all descriptions left by a decedent. See also tenancy; real estate.

An inheritable, possessory interest in land that may endure until the extinction of all lineal and collateral heirs of the first owner and that may be freely conveyed by its owner; the largest possible estate in land.

Any estate held by a single person is an estate in severalty.

Any one of the three types of possessory interests in land-fee simple, fee tail, and estate for life-that in feudal times were granted only to freemen. Note: Estates of freehold are said to be estates of indefinite duration and any other estate is said to be "less than freehold."

A tax based on the value of the estate of a deceased person.

Any possessory interest in land less than estate of freehold, that is, an estate for years, an estate from year to year (periodic estate), an estate at will, or an estate at sufferance. See leasehold.

A measure of distance between two points “as the crow flies.” In property valuation, it is used to find the nearest neighbor or similar property based on an index of dissimilarity between property location or attributes. When using multivariate selection, the squared difference is divided by the standard deviation of the variable so as to normalize the differences. (Also see Minkowski Metric.)

The taking of more property, by right of eminent domain, than is necessary for the intended purpose.

A complete or total exemption that excludes an entire property from taxation without regard to its value; a reduction in the property tax base.

Freedom of part or all of the value of a homestead from property taxation; a reduction in the property tax base.

An exemption granted to property used in industrial pursuits as a means of stimulating industrial development or inducing relocation of plants; a reduction in the property tax base. See also enterprise zone.

Freedom from the property tax granted to property owned and/or used by charitable, educational, or religious institutions or agencies, in recognition of the public services rendered by them; a reduction in the property tax base.

Freedom from the property tax of some or all classes of property in limited or unlimited amounts by reason of its ownership by natural persons or particular groups of natural persons, or persons with certain attributes; a reduction in the property tax base.

The ratio of expenses to gross income. A "typical" expense ratio is the relationship of normal expenses to effective gross income.

That part of statistical practice concerned with reviewing the data set to isolate structures, uncover patterns, or reveal features that may improve the confirmatory analysis

A symbol usually written to the right and above an expression to indicate particular mathematical operations. For example, 62 means 6 + 6, or six squared. Fractional exponents indicate inverse operations; for example, an exponent of + signifies a square root. Exponents are also called powers. Valuation models make use of the following properties of exponents: A number raised to the exponent 0 is always 1.00; zero raised to any power is zero; any number raised to the power 1 is itself. Negative numbers cannot have exponents less than 1.

The loss of appraisal value (relative to the cost of replacing a property with property of equal utility) resulting from causes outside the property that suffers the loss. Usually locational in nature in the depreciation of real estate, it is more commonly marketwide in personal property, and is generally considered to be economically infeasible to cure.