Homeowners on the North Shore be warned: higher property assessments are coming. In some cases, much higher.
This week, B.C. Assessment sent early notices to more than 2,130 property owners on the North Shore, warning that their assessments will be up significantly more than the average for their area.
And that’s considering increases of 15 to 25 per cent will be “typical” among many single-family homes in the Lower Mainland, said area assessor Jason Grant.
“If you went back to 1980 there would be only two or three other times when the single-family market across the North Shore has moved as quickly and by as much as it has in the last year,” said Grant.
“The increases for single-family homes across the North Shore are the largest they’ve been in about 10 years.”
The assessment authority sends out early warning notices every year to some homeowners.
But this year, there are more letters going out than ever before.
“The real estate market is moving very quickly,” said Grant. “The (number) of letters this year is the most I can recall.”
The assessment authority sends the early warning letters to homeowners whose properties increased in value more than 15 per cent above the average increase for the area. That means if house values are up an average of 20 per cent in West Vancouver, only owners whose assessments are up by at least 35 per cent over last year will get the letter.
Those owners are likely to have sticker shock come property tax time.
“Properties that go up dramatically more than the average will see a tax increase,” said Grant.
On the North Shore, 1,087 property owners in West Vancouver were sent early warning letters. An additional 963 owners in the City of North Vancouver were sent letters, along with 83 homeowners in the District of North Vancouver.
A total of about 37,000 early warning notices have been sent out province-wide – two-thirds of those within the Lower Mainland.
As one example of what to expect when assessments are mailed to all homeowners at the beginning of January, a 1971 single-family home in Lynn Valley valued at $993,000 last year will be valued at $1.126 million this year, an increase of 13 per cent, said Grant.
Increases at the high end of the market are likely to be even higher. A 1967 waterfront single-family home in West Vancouver valued at $3.54 million last year would be worth $4.38 million this year – an increase of 24 per cent.
Commercial and industrial properties will also see increases of between 10 to 25 per cent in assessed value.
And the rise of housing values into the stratosphere isn’t expected to stop there.
Assessments that get mailed out the first week of January are based on what properties were worth in July of 2015, said Grant – but house values have continued to head up in the past six months.
Grant said anyone who receives a notice and wants to appeal should get in touch with the assessment office early. Last year only about one per cent of property owners appealed their assessments.
“Most owners do understand what their properties are worth,” he said.
Last year, single-family homes in North Vancouver rose between six and seven per cent in value while single-family homes in West Vancouver rose about nine per cent. Areas including Lynn Valley, Pemberton Heights and the Ambleside waterfront saw among the highest increases.
The value of condos is rising at a much more modest rate, said Grant.
