Tri-City assessments better than rest of region
The Tri-Cities is somewhat of a bright spot for property values compared with the rest of the Metro Vancouver, according to rolls released this week.
BC Assessment reports the North Fraser region, which includes the Tri-Cities, showed combined increases for all residential properties at:
• 5.59% in Coquitlam
• 3.04% in Port Moody
• 2.21% in Anmore
• and 1.69% in Port Coquitlam.
However, Belcarra property owners saw an average drop of 4.85% in their values.
The biggest land rise was for a single-family house — built 29 years ago in Central Coquitlam; it jumped about $60,000 to $800,000. As well, a detached home on Burke Mountain in Coquitlam went up $40,000 from last year, according to the roll.
But a two-bedroom suite in a Coquitlam strata low-rise, built in 1990, dropped $16,000 while a Citadel Heights townhome in Port Coquitlam, built in 1994, sunk $15,000 — largely due to an oversupply, said deputy assessor Zina Weston who called this year relatively "status quo" for land values in the Tri-Cities.
Meanwhile, Tri-City commercial and industrial land values went up as much as 20% in neighbourhoods such as Burquitlam and Moody Centre — in part because of official community plan and zoning changes, and the upcoming Evergreen Line that is due to be built by the summer of 2016 from Lougheed to Coquitlam town centres.
In addition, strata offices and retail properties along St. Johns Street in Port Moody and in downtown Port Coquitlam rose, Weston said.
By comparison, Metro Vancouver homes values dropped modestly, with White Rock showing from negative 10% to plus 5%. Significant decreases were also more common in Whistler, Pemberton, the Sunshine Coast and Bowen Island.
Many homes on Vancouver's west side and in Richmond are also down slightly, after gains of as much as 30% a year earlier. "For the first time in many years a significant number of properties in the region are actually decreasing in value," assessor Jason Gratl said of Vancouver Sea-to-Sky region changes.
Assessments are based on the real estate market as of July 1, 2012, and are the basis for municipal property taxes.
Owners can check their assessments online at bcassessment.ca (click on e-ValueBC) and compare with others in their neighbourhood to decide if they wish to file an appeal by Jan. 31. Appeal requests go to independent property assessment review panels that convene next month. For more information, call 1-866-825-8322.
In related news, the provincial government is increasing the Home Owner Grant threshold by $10,000 to $1.295 million to keep pace with rising property values, the finance ministry announced on Wednesday.
The grant is worth $570 for homeowners in the Victoria, Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley regional districts.
jwarren@tricitynews.com
— with files from Jeff Nagel of Black Press
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