The state of California has reported a decline in the value of all types of real estate properties this year. According to the California Board of Equalization, property values fell 1.8% this year to $4.4 trillion.

This is the second year in a row that property values in the Golden State slipped since record keeping began during the Great Depression. Last year, values fell 2.4%.

The decrease was widespread in the state, with 48 out of 58 counties affected. Nine of them even registered declines of over 5%. Property taxes increased in only two areas: Kern and San Francisco. These figures are a stark contrast to the state’s usual real estate value performance. For nearly eight decades, California has posted “constant increases of 5% to 15% per year.”

Board of Equalization vice-chairman Jerome Horton said that county governments are suffering because of the drop in property values, which also translates to less revenue from property tax. “It’s a decline that’s outside of their control,” he said. Horton noted that for the counties to recover, tens of thousands of new employment opportunities must be created in the state.

“Those numbers tell us we have a ways to go, and we have some work to do to bring balance back in our economy,” Horton added.

Meanwhile, some experts said that the board’s numbers may be out of date. Stuart Gabriel, director of the Ziman Center for Real Estate at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, said that the board based their figures on data gathered early this year. “In many areas of California, prices have found a floor and have even recorded three or four months of guarded recovery,” he said.

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