While the real estate market on the North Shore was generally stable over the past year, sales at the top end have recently been brisk and the highest assessments continue to push into the stratosphere.
The home with the highest assessment on the North Shore is an 11,000-square-foot house on the waterfront in West Vancouver's West Bay neighbourhood. That house at 3330 Radcliffe Ave.
jumped over the $24 million mark to clock in at an assessment of $24.4 million - up from its previous value of $23.6 million.
The second highest assessed property - a home overlooking the West Vancouver waterfront at 2588 Bellevue Ave. - also saw a hike in its value to $23.3 million from a previous assessment of just under $21 million.
Although there were some properties in the upper echelons that fell in value, generally the assessments for homes favoured by investment bankers, developers, movie moguls and wealthy immigrants is continuing to rise.
While not many sales were completed in the highest bracket of luxury homes last year, those that did sell went for "prices we've never seen before" - ranging from $8 million to $16 million, said Malcolm Hasman of Angell Hasman and Associates Realty.
"It set new precedents for price levels."
Hasman said the higher end of the market in West Vancouver is predominantly being driven by buyers from China, who are generally families who value the area's reputation for safety and excellent schools.
The top 25 assessed homes in West Vancouver ranged from values of $12 million to more than $24 million, with the biggest increases in value in areas like the Altamont waterfront and Bellevue Avenue.
Waterfront areas like Radcliffe, Bellevue and Travers avenues, and Erwin and Marine drives continued to host addresses of the highest-assessed homes.
In the District of North Vancouver, the highest assessment went to a Dollarton waterfront home at 682 Beachview Dr., assessed at $9.8 million.
That owner had lots of company. Sixteen of the top 25 assessments in the district were neighbours on Beachview. Other popular spots for homes with high assessments were nearby Lowry Lane in the same neighbourhood and Deep Cove's waterfront Panorama Drive.
The highest assessed values in the district ranged from $4.5 million to $9.8 million.
In the City of North Vancouver, well over half of the highest assessed properties were condos, including several in Lower Lonsdale highrises on Victory Ship Way and Esplanade, as well as towers at Victoria Park West.
The development of Lower Lonsdale has "really changed all the dynamics," said Suzanne Miscisco, a real estate agent with Sotheby's International Realty Canada. "It has become a more desirable location."
Some buyers are coming from places like Europe, she added. "They are used to living in an apartment."
The highest assessed property in the city was a penthouse condo suite at 683 Victoria Park West, valued at just over $2 million. The highest values in the city ranged from $1.7 million to just over $2 million.
Both Miscisco and Hasman say there's lots of activity in the higher end of the market now with a sweet spot between $1.5 million and $3 million in North Vancouver and between $2 million and $6 million in West Vancouver.
