After a couple of years of flatlining assessments, home values on the North Shore are edging up again.
That's the takeaway from the recent BC Assessment, which mailed out annual property assessment notices to homeowners this week.
For the past two years, "there was not a lot of market movement," said Lyle Dunn, deputy assessor for the North Shore region.
Last year, average assessments in both North Vancouver and West Vancouver were down - albeit by less than two per cent.
This year is different, said Dunn. "We're seeing increases where we haven't in the past."
The average assessed value of residential properties is up in all three municipalities - ranging from 3.3 per cent in the City of North Vancouver to 5.35 per cent in the District of North Vancouver and 6.55 per cent in West Vancouver.
Single-family homes are seeing the biggest increases across the North Shore.
Dunn said that's not surprising, as land values are more likely to appreciate over time while the value of buildings tends to drop.
It's also echoing a trend across the region, said Cameron Muir, chief economist with the B.C. Real Estate Association.
Muir said detached homes are becoming a smaller and smaller proportion of the total housing stock in the Lower Mainland, which is driving prices higher. Detached houses in the City of North Vancouver were up an average of 6.79 per cent while condominiums rose only .83 per cent in value. In the District of North Vancouver, single-family homes were up an average of 6.82 per cent, while condos rose an average of 1.44 per cent in value.
The high end of the market saw some of the biggest increases.
In West Vancouver, where property values are among the highest in the Lower Mainland, detached homes went up 8.94 per cent in value while condos went up 5.13 per cent on average.
In the City of North Vancouver, an average assessment for a single-family home is now $960,000, while the median assessment (considered more accurate) hovers around $917,000.
In the District of North Vancouver, an average detached home is valued at $1,008,000 while a median home is worth $977,000.
In West Vancouver - where some very high-end luxury properties have a tendency to skew averages - an average detached home is valued at $2,254,000 while a median home is worth $1,844,000.
Among the averages, however, there are some considerable variations, even within municipalities on the North Shore.
In North Vancouver, Lynn Valley has seen some of the largest increases, said Dunn - with single-family homes increasing over 12 per cent on average. Homes near Pemberton Heights rose over nine per cent while houses on the Ambleside waterfront rose over 17 per cent in value. In contrast, one-bedroom apartments in North Vancouver stayed close to the same value as last year - at least on paper.
Assessed values are a snapshot of property value as determined by B.C. Assessment on July 1, 2014 and reflect recent sale prices of similar homes in the area at that time. The values are used by local government to calculate property taxes.
But the current market value of a property - what homes are actually selling for six months later - can be different.
According to the most recent statistics from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, North Vancouver homeowners are already in the million-dollar club, with a benchmark detached home there selling for $1.04 million last month, while an apartment sold for $360,000. The benchmark price for a West Vancouver house was just under $2 million last month, while condos were selling for just under $618,000 there.
According to B.C. Assessment, the value of commercial properties on the North Shore was also up, although by a lower percentage - increasing on average from 1.34 per cent in West Vancouver to 4.26 per cent in the City of North Vancouver.
To check your assessment, or compare it to others, go to bcassessment.ca and click on the e-valueBC link. Property owners who disagree with their assessment have until Feb. 2 to appeal.
