Here's the good news: Many Tri-City homeowners will get letters this week to tell them their houses are worth more than $1 million.
The bad news: That assessment is based on a real estate market that was red-hot last year and is as cold as the weather today.
The 2017 notices that BC Assessment sent out Tuesday reveal the assessed values based on sales as of July 1, 2016 — a month before the B.C. government imposed the foreign buyers' tax, a 15% surcharge that subsequently cooled sales.
This week's notices also come out a month after the opening of the Evergreen Extension, a $1.3-billion rapid-transit line that will likely increase 2018 values for properties surrounding it.
Indeed, many single-family homeowners — from Squamish to Surrey — will see their valuations jump hundreds of thousands of dollars this year.
The spike is so high for some property owners that BC Assessment mailed out letters last month to about 81,000 residents around the province to warn them about their higher-than-average hikes.
While municipal officials say the lift doesn't necessarily translate into higher property taxes — they dial down tax rates to compensate for the increases — Tri-City realtor Léo Bruneau said owners of single-family dwellings need to be financially ready for when their tax bills come from the city.
"The government is going to take advantage and is not going to take into consideration the shift since the [foreign] tax went into effect," Bruneau said. "You need to be prepared in 2017 to possibly be paying for an assessment that might be higher than your home is worth."
Bruneau called assessments "stupid and inaccurate" as they don't reflect the current value. Single-family homes are not selling as fast as they were last summer and spring, when the market was red hot, he said.
The significant rise in assessments this year also has politicians calling for an increase to the $570 homeowners' grant (the grant cuts the amount of property tax you pay for your principal residence).
In a statement, B.C.'s finance minister said the BC Liberal government is "actively looking at the threshold level" but no decision has been made yet.
Port Coquitlam NDP MLA Mike Farnworth said if the grant is not raised, property owners may be forced to sell and move elsewhere. "Affordability in Metro Vancouver has gone out the window with the dramatic rise in house values," said Farnworth, noting his PoCo property assessment is up 38% from last year.
BC Liberal MLA Linda Reimer (Port Moody-Coquitlam) said she is hearing from her constituents worried about their notices and wanting relief. She said she'll take their concerns to the legislature before the budget comes down next month.
In the North Fraser region, which includes the Tri-Cities, market movement from the July 2015 to ’16 period went up, on average for a residential property:
• 33.86% in Port Coquitlam;
• 33.11% in Belcarra;
• 32.91% in Coquitlam;
• 31.49% in Port Moody;
• and 29.29% in Anmore.
Regional assessor Jason Grant said the foreign buyers' tax and the opening of the Evergreen Extension — as well as other changes — will be reflected in next year's notice.
"It's not a new phenomenon to have the market go up or down after July 1," he said. "That's why we have an annual market system in B.C. so that we can change the assessments each year."
According to BC Assessment, the Greater Vancouver region’s total assessments rose from $636.2 billion in 2016 to $825.2 billion this year. Nearly $10.9 billion of the region’s updated assessments is from new construction, subdivisions and rezoning of properties.
The most valuable home in B.C. is owned by former Lululemon CEO Chip Wilson, who has a custom-built waterfront property on Point Grey Road in Vancouver assessed at $75.8 million.
Calls to the mayors of Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody were not immediately returned.
• To view the 2017 value of your property, visit bcassessment.ca. The deadline is Jan. 31 to file an appeal for an independent review. Call 1-866-valueBC.
