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Okanagan Assessments Show ‘Moderate’ Increases for 2018

Jan 2, 2018 | 10:36 AM

Okanagan residents will be getting their 2018 property assessment notices in the mail the next few days.

BC Assessment has mailed the notices to over 227,000 properties throughout the Okanagan, updating the market value of homes and properties as of July 1, 2017.

“The majority of residential home owners within the region can expect a moderate increase compared to last year’s assessment,” says Deputy Assessor Tracy Wall. “Some properties in our region were impacted by spring floods or summer wild fires.  The local BC Assessment staff have identified most of these properties to ensure they receive an accurate assessment. It is still possible that some properties may still need to be reviewed, so owners may want to contact our office for more information if they have not already been contacted.”

The agency says single detached homes in urban areas of the Okanagan increased 5 to 25% while the same type of homes in rural areas have gone from -5% to +20% in market value.

Overall, the Okanagan’s total assessments increased from $98 billion in 2017 to $119 billion this year. A total of over $2.5 billion of the region’s updated assessments is from new construction, subdivisions and rezoning of properties. The Okanagan forms part of BC Assessment’s ThompsonOkanagan region. The Okanagan portion includes the Shuswap (Sicamous to Sorrento) in the north, then south through all of the Okanagan communities to the Canada/US border at Osoyoos and west to Princeton.

A home at 4358 Hobson Road in Kelowna has the highest assessed value in the Okanagan at just over 10 million dollars.

The highest valued home in Greater Vernon is at 8200 Kalavista Drive in Coldstream at 5.8 million.

The summary below provides estimates of average 2017 versus 2018 assessed values of residential homes throughout the region. These examples demonstrate market trends for single family residential (or strata where noted) properties by geographic area.

Click on the image to enlarge

You can get more details on BC Assessment’s website at www.bcassessment.ca which also includes more details on property information and trends such as lists of 2018’s top valued residential properties across the province.

The website also provides self-service access to a free, online property assessment search service that allows anyone to search, check and compare 2018 property assessments for anywhere in the province.

“Property owners can find a lot of information on our website including answers to many assessment-related questions, but those who feel that their property assessment does not reflect market value as of July 1, 2017 or see incorrect information on their notice, should contact BC Assessment as indicated on their notice as soon as possible in January,” says Wall.

“If a property owner is still concerned about their assessment after speaking to one of our appraisers, they may submit a Notice of Complaint (Appeal) by January 31st, for an independent review by a Property Assessment Review Panel,” adds Wall.