She pays $4,390 in taxes on a two-family house valued at $478,000 last year.

Along the way, real estate values have escalated, with many houses valued at more than $1 million.

A house valued on the open market at between $3,000 and $4,000 is being sold for as little as $300 to $600.

Chartered house corporations own more than 120 houses valued at $50 million.

But based on these rates, a homeowner with a house valued at $500,000 could see a tax increase of about $380 a year.

There is not a single American house valued at anywhere near $70 million, real-estate specialists say.

On a house valued at $200,000, the owner should have paid $1,153 in property tax.

A property worth $100,000, say, could include a house valued at $25,000 on a $75,000 parcel.

People with houses valued in the top or bottom 10 percent of their local markets are not eligible.

The first prize was a house and grounds valued at ten thousand dollars.