After three years of declines, some metro Detroit communities are beginning to see small but noticeable improvement in property values — good news for homeowners and for local governments that depend on property tax revenue.

Though not yet widespread, the gains may signal that the region’s housing market crisis has bottomed out.

• Database: See how home values changed in your town last year

“The signs are getting better,” said Oakland County’s Equalization Director Dave Hieber. “If the job market continues to improve, hopefully next year we’ll have more communities with increases.”

Seventeen communities in Oakland County, one in Macomb and three in Wayne recorded increases in property valuation last year. None is dramatic — Northville Township had the highest bump at 4.9% — but any boost is welcome.

“Celebrating a 1 or 2% increase is pretty pathetic, isn’t it?” said Robert Bruner, city manager of Birmingham, which had a 1.93% increase. “But I really get the sense that the worst is behind us.”

He attributed the increase to Birmingham’s status as a desirable place to live and the fact that Birmingham real estate took its hits in the beginning of the recession and is bouncing back sooner.

Sue Allen, an agent with Max Broock Realtors, said houses in good shape are selling fast with multiple offers. Allen said she had two firm offers on a short-sale home in Birmingham within two days of listing it.

“I could have sold the home 25 times over,” she said. “Our problem is that we’re kind of short on inventory right now.”

Such bright spots jump out in annual equalization reports that show another overall drop last year in residential property values for the Detroit area and far more communities with ongoing declines — 35 in Oakland County, 39 in Wayne and 23 in Macomb. Across the region, 30 cities or townships had double-digit drops.

“We’re never going to fully catch up to where we were,” Paul Tait, executive director of the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, said Friday. “Region-wide, property values are down 32% since 2007.

“But just reversing the slide is a good thing.”

Tait said a rebound in property tax revenue for local governments will take time.

Proposal A of 1994 and the Headlee Amendment to the Michigan Constitution limit annual increases in a property’s value for taxing purposes to the rate of inflation or 5%, whichever is less. So even though property values have fallen 10%-20% in some recent years, revenues from them will rise more slowly as the housing market turns around.

That will make things even harder on places such as Hazel Park, which suffered a 19.82% drop in property values last year. As a result, the revenues from a 9-mill levy approved by city voters last year for police and fire services will bring in only $1 million, less than half of what was expected.

“We have a damn mess here on our hands,” said City Manager Ed Klobucher. “It will take a couple of decades for the properties to climb back to where they were.”

Klobucher tells of a city employee who had an offer of $120,000 for her home from a buyer who had gotten mortgage approval for that amount. But the appraiser would only value the house at $80,000, which killed the sale.

“We’re making people prisoners of their own homes,” Klobucher said. “And we’re giving them the incentive to walk away from the house and say, ‘Screw it.’ “

In Macomb County, where overall valuation fell 7.2%, northern townships showed the smallest declines, and Bruce Township posted an increase in its residential property values in 2011 — a relatively modest 1.11%, according to the county’s equalization department.

Eastpointe had the greatest percentage loss of any Macomb community, 16.5%, while Warren, off 12.14%, was one of five other Macomb communities with double-digit losses.

Warren Mayor Jim Fouts said, however, that he did not see the change as negative.

“One advantage of what has happened is that we have affordable housing,” Fouts said. Fouts said Warren has been aggressive in attacking issues, such as blight and crime that hurt property values. He said the city demolishes problem homes and, unlike many other communities, has been hiring police, adding 22 officers since last fall.

Property values in Wayne County overall fell 6.1% last year. With three communities increasing and several close to breaking even, officials say things are starting to improve.

“I do have a sense that we have reached the bottom and we are in recovery mode, but there are certain areas that are going to continue to struggle,” said Phillip Mastin, the county’s director of assessments and equalization. “Those are going to be the urban and urban edge areas.”

Melvindale was hardest hit in Wayne County, with a 19.3% drop in home values. The city has been struggling financially for years, and this year’s decrease will hurt it even more. In Detroit, property values fell 8.3%, meaning fewer tax dollars for the city as it struggles to right its finances.

The bright spots came in the northwest corner of the county. Northville Township led the way with a 4.9% rise, the city of Northville was right behind at 3.3%. Plymouth Township values rose 2.5%.

Northville Township Manager Chip Snider credited steady growth west of Sheldon Road for fueling the increase. New subdivisions from Pulte Homes and Toll Brothers near 6 Mile and Ridge roads added 88 homes to the township in 2011, and more are planned for this year.

“We were No. 1 in residential growth,” Snider said.

The increase in values will mean additional money for the township, Snider said, though no big new spending is planned.

He expects to see the township work force of 114 employees remain the same, and the extra cash could make it easier to pursue state or federal grants for recreation that typically require local matching money.

“We don’t have anything on the drawing board to add or expand any service,” Snider said. “It’s no different than looking at your checkbook after you get your tax refund. But it’s going to relieve some anxiety.”