Central Okanagan home owners are going to get a chance to see how much the hot real estate market affected their property values next week.
"The preliminary market analysis for 2017 property assessments indicates significant increases over last year's assessment values," said Deputy Assessor Tracy Wall, of BC Assessment "Increases of 5 to 20 per cent will be typical for single-family homes in Kelowna, West Kelowna, Westbank and Lake Country. Typical strata residential increases will be in the five to 30 per cent range."
Commercial and industrial properties throughout the Central Okanagan area will also see increases in the zero to 15 per cent range. Commercial properties being purchased for eventual redevelopment will often exceed these ranges.
The assessments will be available online Jan. 3 and reflect the July 1 market value of properties in B.C. BC Assessment's professional appraisers analyze current sales in the local area, as well as the property's size, age, quality, condition, view and location. Using a single common date ensures your property's assessed value is fair, equitable and uniform compared to the other properties in your community and across B.C.
"It is important to understand that large increases in property assessments do not automatically translate into a corresponding increase in property taxes," said Wall. "Your taxes are actually affected by your assessment changes compared to the average change in your community."
All British Columbia's property owners will receive their annual property assessment notices in early January, 2017. During December, BC Assessment is providing courtesy notification letters to property owners whose assessments are increasing significantly more than the typical range of change.
BC Assessment's website at bcassessment.ca will be updated on Jan. 3, 2017 with access to 2017 property assessment information including assessment details for all properties via our free, online e-valueBC service, a variety of statistics, and extensive lists of the top valued properties, both regionally and provincewide.