BC Assessment mailed out a record number of early warnings this week to property owners whose assessments have risen so much beyond the average, they want homeowners to have advanced notice.
Remember, municipalities set their tax rates based on the total assessed value of the properties in their jurisdiction, not the other way around. But invariably, it’s those enjoying the biggest boost in property value who end up paying a disproportionate amount of any tax increase.
Seeing the obviously overheated market for what it is, the feds announced new rules this week forcing property buyers to put down at least 10 per cent. This likely won’t make a difference in the high end of the market where buyers clobber each other with burlap sacks full of cash to win bidding wars.
But is there a knock-on effect down the housing spectrum? We suspect so. What used to be middle-class neighbourhoods like Lynn Valley are now thoroughly in the $1-million club, and the City of North Vancouver has more of these early notices coming than the district does.
We wonder if those getting walloped with a larger tax bill will start to question how much hotter they want this already stratospheric market to get.
It is highly suspected that foreign capital is at play here, but there’s been a severe case of institutional lethargy to do anything about it. Hopefully that may be changing. The new federal government has promised to look into the effects of foreign investment as a part of their national housing strategy in 2016.
It won’t be a moment too soon.
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