After the Christmas tree has come down and the champagne corks have all been popped to mark the new year, one of the most anticipated events next on the calendar is the latest housing value assessments landing in homeowners’ mailboxes starting this week.
And what those in South Region (Richmond, Surrey, White Rock, Delta and Tsawwassen First Nation) are finding is roughly a 10 per cent jump in value for single family homes and commercial properties.
That’s according to the information from BC Assessment which evaluates properties across the province based on a number of factors including a building’s physical condition, location, quality, style and comparable properties in the area.
A cross section of the increases showed an average single family dwelling in West Richmond that was assessed at $1.456 million in 2014 has now risen to $1.5 million.
Similar properties in the Steveston area that were assessed at $777,700 last year jumped to $852,000. Townhouses also experienced a slight increase. An average townhouse in the Cambie area was $525,000 in 2013 compared to $530,000 in 2014. There was a similar increase for apartments as homes in the Lansdowne area were an average $276,000 in 2013. That rose to $279,000 in 2014.
Helping drive some of those increases was a total of $2.9 billion worth of new construction in the region — $503 million of that in Richmond.
The continuing rise in real estate prices is widening the affordability gap for those seeking home ownership, said De Whalen, of the Richmond Poverty Response Committee.
Whalen said home ownership in Richmond is out of the financial reach of many, and the situation is made worse by the lack of rental housing locally that would allow young residents to live here.
“We need those young people to live and work nearby,” she said. “We can’t have them live in Chilliwack and expect them to work at the hospital here.
Whalen suggested the city should use its authority to entice developers to build rental accommodation in Richmond, and she has been encouraged when talking to some in the building industry who seem keen to do that.
Home owners concerned about their assessment after speaking to an appraisers may submit a Notice of Complaint (Appeal) by Feb. 2, for an independent review by a Property Assessment Review Panel.
