Property is hot right now.
With the New Year comes the latest round of assessments from BC Assessments, and nearly universally across the north, property values—at least for single family residential—are up.
How much? According to Northern BC Deputy Assessor Beau Rossel. “Northern BC property values for most communities are generally up five to 35 percent with only a couple of exceptions.”
Rossel says that real estate market has stayed strong for the last few years. “All during the pandemic, the real estate market has remained robust across the province including higher demand throughout Northern BC, which has resulted in higher 2022 assessment values for most homeowners in the region.”
In Tumbler Ridge, the average single family home value has climbed in value from $132,000 in July of 2020 to $145,000 in July of 2021. That’s an increase of ten percent.
Overall, Northern BC’s total assessments increased from over $72 billion in 2021 to over $81.7 billion this year. About $1.24 billion of the region’s updated assessments is from new construction, subdivisions and the rezoning of properties.
The Northern BC region encompasses approximately 70 per cent of the province: stretching from the Pacific ocean and Alaska Panhandle in the west, east to the Alberta border, north to the Yukon border, west to Bella Coola including Haidi Gwaii and south nearly to Clinton.
Only Taylor, near Fort St John, saw property values dip, with prices dropping about four percent, from $213,000 to $205,000.
Meanwhile, Port Clements, on Haida Gwaii, saw prices climb 58 percent, from $79,000 to $125,000.
Closer to home, Chetwynd home values went from $232,000 to $245,000, an increase of six percent, while Dawson Creek home values went from $241,000 to $261,000 up eight percent.
Of course, while the overall value of most of the houses has gone up ten percent, there will be variations from property to property based on improvements done in the last few years or condition of the property when the assessor went by.
The assessed value of a home can influence its sale price. It can also affect property taxes, but not as much as you might think. Taxes are based on the relative assessment value of your property. That means that if everyone’s assessed property value went up $100,000 or down $100,000, you would still pay the same amount in District taxes, even though the total value of your property has increased (or decreased), because the assessed value has changed for everybody.
But, if the assessed value of your home has gone up $20,000, while everyone else’s has stayed the same, you would have to pay more, based on a percentage of the property value.
However, the actual tax rates won’t be set until the District passes its 2022 Tax Rates Bylaw. It has until May 15 to do so. Budget discussions will be starting soon.
For more details on assessments and to see what your property assessment was, see www.bcassessment.ca
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
