After average increases of more than 17 per cent last year, real estate assessments on the Sunshine Coast are showing more moderate rises this year.
BC Assessment started adding the latest assessments, based on a July 1, 2018 “snapshot,” to its online database on New Year’s Day. Formal notices for property owners are now in the mail and should arrive in the next week.
For assessment purposes, the Sunshine Coast is included in the Greater Vancouver region, along with Squamish and Whistler.
“The majority of residential home owners within the region can expect a modest change compared to last year’s assessment,” said deputy assessor Keith MacLean-Talbot. “The single-family home market saw slight increases or decreases depending on the municipality.”
In Gibsons, the average increase for residential properties as a whole is 13.9 per cent, with single-family homes up an average of 12 per cent, based on a typical value of $675,000, compared to $605,000 for 2018.
Commercial properties saw an average assessment increase of 15.07 per cent, and light-industrial properties went up 11.70 per cent.
In Sechelt, residential assessments were up 12.31 per cent. For single-family homes it was an 11 per cent average increase, with the typical value of a single-family home rising from $546,000 to $605,000.
Sechelt’s commercial properties increased in value by 11.21 per cent on average and light-industrial properties increased by an average of 11.47 per cent.
Data for the Sunshine Coast Regional District rural areas showed an average residential property assessment increase of 9.99 per cent. There was no individual average for single-family homes.
Commercial assessments went up on average by 10.81 per cent, and light-industrial properties increased in value by an average of 5.02 per cent.
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REGB) has been reporting an overall drop in prices for all classes of residential property over the last six months.
On the Sunshine Coast, the REGB’s data showed a benchmark price at the end of November 2018 of $606,000 for a single-family detached home, which represents a year-over-year increase of three per cent from 2017.
The Sunshine Coast’s most valuable industrial property, Howe Sound Pulp and Paper in Port Mellon, saw its assessment increase from $95,373,000 to $97,238,000.
Once again this year, none of the 500 most valuable residential properties in the province was on the Sunshine Coast.
The highest-valued home in B.C. is still Lululemon founder Chip Wilson’s mansion on Point Grey Road in Vancouver, although its assessment dropped from $78,837,000 to $73,120,000.
Wilson’s Sunshine Coast property in Middlepoint followed the local trend, increasing in assessed value from roughly $6.8 million to $7.4 million.
You can view your assessment, the assessments for neighbouring properties, as well as information about the recently sold properties BC Assessment used to set values for your neighbourhood, at www.bcassessment.ca
Requests for corrections to basic information like the number of bedrooms and bathrooms in your home can be made online. Formal appeals of assessments must be filed by Jan. 31.
After the sharp increases last year, the provincial government increased the threshold for the homeowner grant to $1.65 million. There’s no word yet on whether any changes are planned for the 2019 tax year.
