In a topsy turvy development, good housing news could spell higher taxes for some residents.

In an interesting twist, some South Florida homeowners are entering the next month with uncertainty about their property taxes, but not because of bad news – rather, it’s because housing has improved.

For markets that are experiencing the first gains in years – areas such as Coral Gables, Weston, Key Biscayne and Miami Beach – higher home values may lead to higher property taxes.

That is not the case in all Miami markets. In Broward County, for instance, an area that had been sacked with declining home values in 2009, values decreased just 1.6 percent in 2010, and the County Administrator announced that rates in the area would remain flat.

And in Miami-Dade County, where values decreased 2.8 percent in 2010, county commissioners have announced that they no longer need the deeply unpopular tax increase that was enacted to counter falling property revenues.

However, nothing is written in stone when it comes to property taxation. Residents can challenge their home values by Sept. 19, and even the assessors themselves admit to some inconsistencies in their data.

“When you use a mass appraisal system, we get as close as we can get,” said Lori Parrish, Broward County’s property appraiser. “We don’t [assess] 900,000 properties individually, so it’s not an exact science for every single home.”

Tax consultants are also getting in on the game, with some even encouraging residents to appeal their home values.

“Because values are at an all-time low, [property owners] should take advantage of this and try to reset the bar even lower, so that for years to come, they’re at a lower rate,” said Barry Sharpe, the president of the Property Tax Appeal Group.

Sharpe said that because Florida’s 1992 Save Our Homes law states that home values can increase by only 3 percent each year, attaining a rock-bottom value in 2011 would ensure low rates for the next few years.