In the rarified world of waterfront views, his-and-hers garages, infinity pools and temperature-controlled wine cellars, there's nowhere to go but up - at least where real estate values are concerned.
House values at the very top of the market on the North Shore remained up in the stratosphere this year. The top three assessments are all members of a very exclusive $23 million club.
Admittedly, the home with the highest assessed value - an 11,000-squarefoot house on the West Bay waterfront - slipped slightly this year from last year's high of $24.4 million.
But as the home at 3330 Radcliffe Ave. still clocks in at $24.2 million, it's likely not a source of worry.
The value of the secondhighest assessment — a home overlooking the West Vancouver waterfront at 2588 Bellevue Ave. — was up this year to a little less than $24 million from a previous high of $23.3 million.
The third-highest assessment at 1690 Marlowe Place jumped to $23.6 million from last year's $21.3 million. While there were some properties in the highest end of the market that slipped in value, generally the assessments for homes favoured by investment bankers, developers, movie moguls and wealthy immigrants have continued to rise. The luxury home market continues to feel "upward pressure," said Cameron Muir, chief economist for the B.C. Real Estate Association. Buyers continue to pay a premium for waterfront and view properties, said Lyle Dunn, deputy assessor for the North Shore region with BC Assessment. "There's only so much waterfront available," he said.
Muir said realtors don't keep detailed demographic statistics on who's buying the high-end real estate, but "a significant proportion will be Asian buyers." Waterfront areas like Radcliffe, Bellevue avenues and Erwin Drive continued to host addresses of the highest-assessed homes.
In the District of North Vancouver, properties with the highest assessed values were found on the Dollarton waterfront. Nine of the top 10 highest assessments were in the 600 to 900 block area of Beachview Drive.
The highest assessed property in North Vancouver was a four-bedroom home on the waterfront at 650 Lowry Lane, valued at $7.7 million. Assessments of other homes in the high-end neighbourhood ranged from $6.1 to $7.3 million.
In the City of North Vancouver, three of the top 10 ten assessments were for condominiums. But there were more single family homes on the top 10 list than last year.
A 1904 heritage home, Hamersley House at 350 East 2nd Street, was the highest assessed property in the city this year at $2.1 million, while a new home at 838 Brand Street was the second highest at slightly more than $2 million. The highest value condo in the city was a three-bedroom unit on the 23rd floor of a tower on Esplanade, which was assessed at $2 million.
