OXFORD – The town’s property valuation of about $214 million increased $2.5 million this year, reflecting a “steady growth” year, assessor Mike Austin told selectmen recently.

Austin and his associate, Donna Hays, have been providing assessment services to the town for more than seven years.

Hays told selectmen they ought to consider putting aside money in the next budget year for a townwide revaluation. The ratio of current land values to sales is running about 80 percent overall, with a much bigger disparity on lakefront property.

Under state law, once town assessments drop below 70 percent of market value, the town is obligated to conduct a revaluation.

Hays said Oxford’s last townwide revaluation was in 1989, and there has been a big jump in real estate values in the past few years. “It’s been changing dramatically,” she said.

Even though interest rates are poised to climb, she said, “it’s still a very active market for real estate.

Town Manager Mike Huston said selectmen and the Budget Committee considered putting some money aside for a revaluation this budget year, but then decided against it.

“Lakeside property is going up faster than non-lakeside property, and just in general, the dichotomy between the values on the books and sales prices is only going to get bigger” over time, he said.