B.C. home values start to slide in some regions, stabilize in others: BC Assessment

Years of rapidly increasing home values in B.C. have ended, newly released data from BC Assessment shows.

“Across the Lower Mainland and throughout B.C., the overall housing market has generally stabilized in value,” BC Assessment assessor Bryan Murao said in a Tuesday morning release.

Murao said homeowners can expect only modest changes in the range of minus-five to plus-five per cent.  These assessment changes are notably less than in previous years.

2:01 What 2024 B.C. assessments say about value of properties around province

For the Lower Mainland region, the overall total assessments have increased from about $1.94 trillion in 2023 to nearly $2 trillion this year. Almost $27.2 billion of the region’s updated assessments is from new construction, subdivisions and the rezoning of properties.

“Commercial and industrial properties are generally increasing in value at a higher rate than residential, especially in areas such as the Fraser Valley where properties are up in value as a result of limited industrial land,” Murao said.

In the Southern Interior, it was much of the same.

“Most homeowners throughout the Southern Interior can expect to see modest changes and even some decreases in their assessment values,” deputy assessor Boris Warkentin said in the release.

“With the softer real estate market, most changes in home values will be somewhere between minus 10 per cent to plus five per cent in the Thompson-Okanagan.”

Of note, the average single-family home in Kelowna is assessed at $953,000, down three per cent, BC Assessment said Tuesday.

It’s the first time since 2008 that home prices have fallen in the hot real estate market. That drop was even more pronounced in West Kelowna, where the typical single-family home is now valued at $912,000, down five per cent. Penticton also saw prices drop on average three per cent, from $727,000 to $708,000.

BC Assessment says north and central B.C. communities did see more fluctuations, with several communities such as Prince Rupert down eight per cent to $409,000 in the plus- or minus-10 per cent range.

The assessments are used by government to provide homeowner grants, giving some relief on property tax bills ranging from $570 to $1,045 on homes that are valued at under $2.15 million.