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West Vancouver's priciest home nears $30M

At the very high end of the North Shore real estate market – where multi-million-dollar mansions sport infinity pools and heated five-car garages and tear-downs go for $4 million – prices are headed in one direction: up. Way up.

At the very high end of the North Shore real estate market – where multi-million-dollar mansions sport infinity pools and heated five-car garages and tear-downs go for $4 million – prices are headed in one direction: up.

Way up.

The top three property assessments this year – all in West Vancouver – are all over $26 million.

The highest assessment – an 11,000-square-foot home on the West Bay waterfront at 3330 Radcliffe Ave. – was valued at just under $30 million this year, at $29.7 million. That’s up from its value last year, of $24.2 million – a 23 per cent increase.

The second-highest assessment at 1690 Marlowe Pl. in the British Properties was worth $24.7 million this year – up from its value of $23.6 million last year and $21.3 million in 2014.

The third-highest assessment was for a $26.5-million home on the Dundarave waterfront at 2588 Bellevue Ave. – up from $24.5 million last year.

Waterfront West Vancouver mansions on streets like Radcliffe, Bellevue and Erwin Drive continue to be the most sought-after addresses for the top tier of the uber wealthy.

But assessed values often lag behind perceived market value of luxury properties. One six-bath, eight-bedroom home at 4351 Erwin Dr. – which clocked in at the fifth highest assessed value on the North Shore with a value of $23 million – is currently listed for sale at almost $43 million.

Another home at 5363 Kew Cliff Rd. – boasting a yacht garage with elevator access – didn’t even make the list of top 20 assessments in West Vancouver, but is listed for sale for almost $24 million.

The luxury real estate market has boomed in the last year, said Allan Angell, of West Vancouver’s high-end real estate firm Angell Hasman. In 2015, there were 119 sales of properties worth more than $5 million – the most ever, he said.

“It’s unreal,” he said. “A year ago I was selling lots in Dundarave for $2.8 to $3 million. Those same lots are now selling for over $4 million.”

Angell said wealthy buyers from China make up “over 40 per cent of our market,” in West Vancouver and closer to 70 per cent of the luxury home market.

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 the area was a home at 828 Beachview Dr., valued at just under $9 million. Neighbours at 672 Beachview with a home assessed at $8.9 million and at 650 Lowry Lane with an assessment of $8.7 million rounded out the top three.

In the City of North Vancouver, the top assessed properties this year were all single-family homes.

The highest assessment in the city went to the heritage Hamersley House at 350 East Second St. with a value of $2.4 million.

Two homes in the Tempe Heights neighbourhood at 407 and 383 Brand St. both worth approximately $2.3 million, rounded out the top three.