Last week, BC Assessment announced the general changes people will see on their 2014 property assessment notice. Throughout the province, average property values will remain static, with some exceptions.
Let’s take a look at some other information they released.
What’s a decent comparison to your property?
BC Assessment doesn’t release the “average” value of a home for each city, but they do provide a representative number people can as a comparison (except in the Thompson/Cariboo). Find yours in this interactive chart.
Vancouver is (unsurprisingly) where the expensive homes are
BC Assessment does release the locations and values of the 500 most expensive properties in the province. Most are located in Vancouver, with West Vancouver coming in a distant second. Within Vancouver, 35 are downtown condos—but the majority of properties are in Shaughnessy, Point Grey, or the Endowment Lands around the University of British Columbia (which is not actually part of any city).
The most expensive property in the province? Lululemon Athletica founder Chip Wilson’s, whose double-lot mansion on Vancouver’s Point Grey road is assessed at $54,206,000.
Up in LNG Country, down in Vancouver Island
Of the areas where values increased by more than 5%, many stand to benefit if the B.C. government’s follows through in creating LNG plants. Prince Rupert, Terrace, and New Hazelton all saw large increases in property values, and the largest for all of B.C. was in Kitimat, at 26.67%.
Meanwhile, of the 14 areas of B.C. with the largest decreases, half were located on Vancouver Island (or the Gulf Islands), led by Ucluelet with a 10.88% decrease.
Automatic $$$: Lakes, Ski Hills, and Islands. Yes, Islands
Not surprisingly, outside of Vancouver, the rich congregate among lakes and mountains. In the Thompson and Cariboo, 26 of the 100 most expensive properties are at Sun Peaks, while another 20 surround Nicola Lake, outside of Merritt.
In the Kootenays 81 of the 100 most expensive properties surround Lake Windermere, while in the North 33 of 100 surround Charlie Lake, located on the outskirts of Fort St. John.
But if you want to be completely surrounded by amazing views, a private island can work as well—though it will cost you. There are five private islands valued at more than $5 million, all located close to Swartz Bay Terminal.
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