HUDSON - Residents began receiving their updated property values in the mail Thursday, and some were shocked to see the continued increase in the real estate market.

The town’s total assessed value is $2.5 billion, a 22 percent increase from last year.

The average single-family home assessment has gone up from $214,400 in 2002 to $272,200, a 27 percent increase. The average single-family home sale price from January of last year to now is about $290,000.

The estimated tax rate using the updated property values is $16.50 per $1,000, about a 14 percent decrease from the 2003 tax rate. The previous tax rate was $19.18 per $1,000 of assessed value.

A resident with a home valued at $270,000 would pay about $4,450.

Some residents contacted the town assessor’s office Thursday with questions about their new property values.

“They’re concerned that the value of real estate is that high,” Town Assessor Jim Michaud said.

Some people have been amazed at how much property is selling for, he said.

As part of the property value update, assessors reviewed all sales between January of last year and March 31.

There were about 835 residential sales from April 1, 2003, to April 1, 2004, which represents 13 percent of the residential property in town, according to statistics prepared by the assessing office.

Residential property as a whole increased 23 percent, bringing the total to $2.4 billion. Commercial property, however, only increased 12 percent, nudging the total up to around $520 million.

Industrial values, which are lumped with commercial, are stagnant and may be dragging down the overall commercial value, Michaud said.

Residential properties now make up 80 percent of the town’s property tax base. Residential values since April have continued to rise at a rate of 1 percent to 2 percent every month, he said.

“Residential is outstripping commercial and industrial,” he said.The assessor’s office also has proposed increasing property tax exemptions for the disabled, elderly and blind, as well as raising the income limits. Any changes to the exemptions would have to be approved by voters at Town Meeting.

The exemptions should keep pace with increased assessed property values, Michaud said.

The update comes on the heels of a townwide revaluation that was completed two years ago. During the revaluation, each property was inspected and its assessment recalculated by examining market data.

Sales prices continued to rise after the revaluation, creating a gap between assessed values and market prices.

The state Department of Revenue requires the difference between assessed and market values to be between 90 and 110 percent. Last year, the difference was about 82 percent.

Each homeowner receives an assessment that determines the amount of taxes owed each year. Those assessments, along with the assessments of business and industrial properties, form the town’s tax base and are used to calculate the property tax rate each year.