The assessed value of many residential homes in the Parksville Qualicum Beach region has jumped more than 10 per cent in the last year, according to B.C. Assessment.
In the next few days, owners of more than 360,000 properties throughout the Vancouver Island region can expect to receive their 2017 assessment notices, which reflect market value as of July 1, 2016.
According to examples used by B.C. Assessment, a home in Qualicum Beach assessed at $396,000 in July of 2015 is assessed at $449,000 for July 2016, a jump of 13.4 per cent. A home in Parksville assessed at $323,200 in 2016 is now at $361,000 (11.7 per cent increase) and one in the rural areas of the region assessed at $399,300 last year is at $440,00 on this year’s assessment.
“The majority of residential home assessments within the (Vancouver Island) region are shifting between plus five per cent to plus 25 per cent compared to last year’s assessments,” says Regional Assessor Tina Ireland.
“A robust real estate market over the past year resulted in assessment increases for many properties in the Vancouver Island region, most notably those in the Greater Victoria areas which have indicated increases up to 40 per cent.”
Overall, the Vancouver Island region’s total assessments increased from $170.15 billion in 2016 to $193.21 billion this year, according to B.C. Assessment. A total of almost $2.91 billion of the region’s updated assessments is from new construction, subdivisions and rezoning of properties.
The Vancouver Island assessment region includes all communities located within Greater Victoria, South Island, Central Island, North Island, West Coast, Northern and Southern Gulf Islands and Powell River.
With property assessments showing increases as high as 50 per cent in some areas of B.C., the provincial government is promoting its interest-free loan program for first-time home buyers as existing home-owners brace for higher property tax bills.
Values are posted at the B.C. Assessment website (www.bcassessment.ca) this week, based on the agency’s mid-2016 real estate market surveys. Preliminary data showed increases of 30 to 50 per cent for houses and condos in Metro Vancouver, 10 to 40 per cent for Greater Victoria and five to 30 per cent in the Central Okanagan.
Rising values mean fewer properties qualifying for the provincial homeowner’s grant. Homes valued at more than $1.2 million are ineligible, and Metro Vancouver politicians have repeatedly called on the province to create a regional system for grant eligibility to reflect higher values in their region.
The province’s latest move is the creation of a second-mortgage fund for first-time buyers, called the B.C. Home Partnership. It starts taking applications on Jan. 16, with loans up to five per cent of the purchase price to a maximum of $37,500, interest free for five years for qualified buyers.
Housing Minister Rich Coleman said the program is designed to help renters as well as first-time buyers, as more people move out of a tight rental market into their own homes. The province estimates 42,000 households are eligible to take advantage of the interest-free loans.
Here’s a map of top 100 assessed homes on the island:
— With files from Tom Fletcher/Black Press
