BC Assessment will be sending out assessment notices to more than 144,000 property owners in the Kootenay Columbia Region this week. The 2019 notices reflect homes values as of July 2018.
Deputy Assessor Ramaish Shah says most residential home owners can expect an increase. He says though the demand for housing in resort communities has been even stronger, most of the region reflects stability.
“Our region is fairly stable. So when we see increases between zero and 15 per cent, generally that’s a stable role in our estimation, no wild swings in value. Some other areas might see different changes in value depending on where they are in the local market condition.”
Nelson and Rossland continue to have some of the highest increases of 18 per cent on average for single family residential properties.Shah says this is in part due to the limited quantity of homes available on the market.
“The changes in certain communities like Revelstoke and Nelson and Rossland to a degree relate to the availability of the homes for purchasers. I know Nelson, for instance, has had a very low inventory of homes available to purchase and what that does is influence prices.”
In Nelson, an assessment of $391,000 in July of 2017 jumped up to $462,000 in July of 2018. Townhouses in Nelson are expecting a bigger increase of 22 per cent. Last year’s average assessed valued was $318,000, up to $388,000 on 2019 notices.
However in Creston an average priced home of $239,000 only rose to $244,000. Shah says Creston’s room for expansion and abundance of both open lots and houses contributes to the lower rise in property value.
According to BC Assessment, the Kootenay Columbia’s total overall assessments increased from about $40.8 billion in 2018 to more than $43.6 billion this year. New construction, subdivisions and rezoning of properties accounts for about $453 million of the region’s updated assessments
