Vernon’s housing market is on the rise this year, while Coldstream’s is on a slight downward turn, according to the latest B.C. property assessments.
B.C. Assessment mailed out its 2020 property assessments to homeowners and published regional results online Thursday. The values are projected based on what’s happening in the real estate market as of July 1, 2019.
Vernon’s real estate market rose by four per cent to an average assessed value of $463,000, while Coldstream’s market dipped two per cent to $581,000, according to the report.
Vernon’s four per cent bump runs counter to the province’s overall trend, as B.C.’s assessed home values dipped 2.5 per cent to $1.94 trillion.
Elsewhere in the North Okanagan, Armstrong also saw a four per cent rise in single family residential property value, reaching $400,000.
The report also listed a five per cent increase in Lumby to $340,000, a one per cent increase in Enderby to $304,000 and a five per cent decrease in Spallumcheen to $345,000.
More than two million properties were assessed in the agency’s latest report. The overall value of the province’s real estate market dipped 2.5 per cent to 1.95 trillion, the agency said.
“It is important to understand that increases in property assessments do not automatically translate into a corresponding increase in property taxes,” B.C. Assessment data accuracy manager Tracy Shymko said.
“As noted on your Assessment Notice, how your assessment changes relative to the average change in your community is what may affect your property taxes.”
The agency also released a list of the Top-100 valued residential homes in the Thompson Okanagan. The top end of the list is filled with homes from Kelowna and Lake Country markets, but topping the list among North Okanagan homes is a Coldstream property valued at $6,630,000.
On the whole, the Thompson Okanagan’s assessments increased from just under $148 billion to a shade over $153 billion this year. About $2.7 billion of the region’s assessments came from new construction, subdivisions and rezoning of properties.
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