Okanagan becoming ‘Canada’s California’

Wency Leung
Sun

Property values in Vernon and the city’s outlying areas jumped more than 30 per cent last year, rising faster than any other jurisdiction in the province, according to BC Assessment figures released on Tuesday.

The total value of the Vernon assessment area, which includes communities surrounding the city, reached $21.3 billion for 2007, up 30.2 per cent from the previous year.

That compared with B.C.’s overall assessment roll, which rose 23 per cent from a year ago.

BC Assessment’s 2007 figures are based on property values as of July 1, 2006.

For the city of Vernon alone, the assessment of all property classes was valued at $5.75 billion, an increase of 32.5 per cent from a year ago.

In Kelowna, property values also showed robust growth, as the overall assessment roll jumped nearly 27 per cent to $30.2 billion.

“There are a strong number of Albertans coming to Okanagan for residential properties, but there’s an international market there as well,” said Jim Inverarity, Okanagan area assessor for BC Assessment.

Inverarity said waterfront land in the Okanagan rose in value by 35 to 50 per cent last year.

“That’s the third year in a row that’s happened,” he said.

A single family waterfront home in Kelowna that would have been assessed at $1.7 million in 2005 was valued at $2.3 million last year.

The value of commercial property, which showed modest growth of 10 per cent or less in previous years, has begun to catch up, rising by 25 to 35 per cent last year, he added.

Vernon-based realtor Dawn Taylor said waterfront land in Vernon that was worth $10 per square foot some 40 years ago is now worth around $10,000 per square foot as a growing number of Albertans are looking for second homes across the provincial border.

“I kind of think of the Okanagan as Canada’s California,” Taylor said.

She said she was surprised at the number of offers she received last summer when one of her clients put his estate for sale at $2.2 million.

“I’d say in one day, we got seven offers on that,” she said.

Other areas in the B.C. Interior also saw strong increases in assessment values.

Prince George’s assessment roll increased to $5.51 billion, up 21.9 per cent from a year ago.

Kamloops’ assessment roll rose 23.7 per cent to almost $9.4 billion, while Cranbrook’s was up 27.6 per cent at $1.85 billion.

© The Vancouver Sun 2007

 

Tiny Anmore sees biggest gain at almost 35%

Derrick Penner
Sun

Hot demand pushed up property values between 14 per cent and 35 per cent in municipalities around Vancouver, according to the B.C. Assessment Authority’s 2007 property assessment.

The tiny community of Anmore, north of Port Moody, saw the largest increase in assessments at almost 35 per cent. That made its total property roll worth $626 million.

Little Belcarra, just to Anmore’s west, saw its property values rise almost 33 per cent from 2006 assessments, while Port Moody’s values increased almost 29 per cent.

They, along with Vancouver, where the value of the city’s real estate increased almost 26 per cent to a total $156 billion, outpaced the overall growth in B.C. at 23 per cent.

Jason Grant, BC Assessment’s area assessor for the Vancouver/Sea to Sky region said the figures simply reflect what is happening in various markets.

“It’s the real estate market itself, the vendors and purchasers, that really determine ultimately what the property is going to be worth,” Grant said.

“BC Assessment simply reports that number.”

Grant said commercial and industrial property values showed stronger gains in the 2007 assessment than they have

in recent years, which contributed to overall gains.

Kash Kang, BC Assessment’s area assessor for the North Fraser area, which includes Burnaby, New Westminster, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody, added that changes in zoning from low density to higher-density residential use also drove assessments up in parts of his region.

That trend was particularly notable along the Lougheed Highway corridor, Kang said.

BC Assessment’s property-assessment values are set July 1, and reflect changes in real estate values over the previous 12 months.

Municipalities use assessments to set property tax rates.

And around Greater Vancouver, BC Assessment’s values are pretty consistent with the market data collected by other agencies, said Brian Yu, market analyst for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

Yu said low mortgage rates, strong demand due to population increases and economic growth fuelled housing demand.

“And supply, for most of the year, wasn’t very high,” he added, which has driven prices up.

However, Yu added that sales across Greater Vancouver have lagged substantially since about March, so 2008 property assessments likely won’t match 2007’s gains.

© The Vancouver Sun 2007

 

Anmore and Belcarra lead B.C. rise

Derrick Penner
Sun

The tiny community of Anmore, located north of Port Moody, saw the largest increase in assessments among Lower Mainland municipalities, according to B.C. Assessment Authority’s 2007 figures.

With an increase of almost 35 per cent, Anmore’s total property roll rose to a value of $626 million.

Little Belcarra, just to Anmore’s west, saw its property values rise almost 33 per cent from 2006 assessments, while Port Moody’s values increased almost 29 per cent.

They, along with Vancouver, where the value of the city’s real estate increased almost 26 per cent to a total $156 billion, outpaced the overall growth in B.C. at 23 per cent.

Jason Grant, BC Assessment’s area assessor for the Vancouver/Sea to Sky region said the figures simply reflect what is happening in various markets.

“It’s the real estate market itself, the vendors and purchasers, that really determine ultimately what the property is going to be worth,” Grant said.

“BC Assessment simply reports that number.”

Grant added that typically, assessments for individual properties in the region increased between 10 and 30 per cent, and “increases in excess of 20 per cent were common.”

Grant said commercial and industrial property values showed stronger gains in the 2007 assessment than they have in recent years, which contributed to overall gains.

Kash Kang, BC Assessment’s area assessor for the North Fraser area, which includes Burnaby, New Westminster, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody, added that changes in zoning from low density to higher-density residential use also drove assessments up in parts of his region.

That trend was particularly notable along the Lougheed Highway corridor, Kang said.

BC Assessment’s property-assessment values are set July 1, and reflect changes in real estate values over the previous 12 months.

Municipalities use assessments to set property tax rates.

And around Greater Vancouver, BC Assessment’s values are pretty consistent with the market data collected by other agencies, said Brian Yu, market analyst for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

Yu said low mortgage rates, strong demand due to population increases and economic growth fuelled housing demand.

“And supply, for most of the year, wasn’t very high,” he added, which has driven prices up.

However, Yu added that sales across Greater Vancouver have lagged substantially since about March, so 2008 property assessments likely won’t match 2007’s gains.

New construction added 106,734 new properties to the roll and pumped $19 billion into assessments

Derrick Penner
Sun

A record amount of new construction and the sixth year of a hot real estate market pushed the value of British Columbia real estate to $808 billion, according to BC Assessment’s 2007 property roll.

That is a 23-per-cent increase from 2006.

New construction added 106,734 new properties to the roll and pumped $19 billion into assessments, the authority reported Tuesday.

However, $131 billion of the $150-billion gain was driven by hot property markets in communities around the province.

“It’s crazy in B.C. all over the place,” said Bill Levis, BC Assessment’s manager of audit and research.

“[Assessment increases] are not just isolated to the Lower Mainland or Victoria. We’ve had increases in Dawson Creek, Prince George, Terrace: Places that historically are more level.

“B.C. seems to be the place people want to live.”

The Vernon assessment region, which includes Vernon, Armstrong, Salmon Arm and surrounding communities, had the biggest assessment gain at just over 30 per cent to $21.3 billion.

The Penticton assessment area was another big gainer, with its roll increasing just more than 27 per cent to almost $18 billion.

The Vancouver assessment area’s property roll increased 25.5 per cent to almost $164 billion. Most of that was within the city of Vancouver itself.

Whistler is the only municipality to buck the trend. Although the resort community’s assessment is up 0.9 per cent to just over $10 billion, area assessor Jason Grant said many homes on the 2007 roll are worth a little less than they were in 2006.

Levis added that even commercial property markets have seen more significant gains than they have in previous years, which served to give 2007 assessment increases an additional push.

Helmut Pastrick, Credit Union Central B.C.’s chief economist, said the dramatic increase in assessments is “fairly consistent with what we’ve seen in price [increases].”

With the pace of new development that the province has seen, Pastrick added that the dramatic rise in assessed values was no surprise.

Generally, Pastrick said that low mortgage interest rates, as well as stronger economic growth and income growth, continued to fuel real estate markets — especially in communities outside the Lower Mainland that lagged behind Greater Vancouver’s economic boom.

The caveat, however, is that the authority’s assessment period is from July 1 to July 1. So the 2007 property assessments are based on values as of July 1, 2006, compared with the same date a year ago.

Pastrick said that period certainly captures the hottest part of 2006 real estate markets, but markets have cooled and sales have slowed since then.

He still expects to see increases in 2008 property assessments, but nowhere near the 23-per-cent increase this year.

The dramatic rise in assessments makes setting tax rates a challenge for municipalities, which use the assessed value of property to set property tax rates.

However, Richard Taylor, executive director of the Union of B.C. Municipalities, said homeowners shouldn’t automatically assume a big assessment will translate into an equally large tax increase.

“Municipalities are not in the habit of attempting to capitalize on increases in assessment,” Taylor said.

He added that typically when there are large assessment increases, municipal governments will reduce rates by the average increase for each property class.

So, as long as a property owner’s assessment increase falls within the average, he shouldn’t pay a tax increase that is any larger than the general tax increase his city or town levies with its 2007 budget.

However, property owners whose assessments increase by more than the average will see their taxes go up.

Owners whose assessments rise by less than the average for their class will see tax cuts.

The province is also considering whether to increase the threshold for the provincial homeowner’s grant, the B.C. government’s main tax assistance plan.

Finance Ministry spokesman Robert Pauliszyn said the program was designed so that 95 per cent of homeowners would qualify for the $570 homeowner’s grant to offset property taxes. Seniors, veterans and other pensioners qualify for a further $275 in assistance.

The current threshold to qualify for the grant is $780,000. Pauliszyn added that the threshold has been increased over the past several years, and in 2006 Finance Minister Carole Taylor increased the grant by $100. That, he added, cost $95 million.

“The Ministry of Finance reviews [the homeowner’s grant] every year as part of the budget process,” Pauliszyn said.

B.C.’s 2007 property assessments topped $808 billion, $150 billion more than 2006. Vancouver accounts for the largest single slice, with total values of $156 billion. The Fraser Valley and Surrey combined are a close second at $134 billion. West Vancouver is at $21.6 billion.

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BC Assessment sent 1,924,750 assessment notices to British Columbia property owners, an increase from last year’s total of 1,818,016.

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Check your property assessment using the BC Assessment Web site: http://www.bcassessment.bc.ca

© The Vancouver Sun 2007