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FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 2017
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Property assessment notices that arrived in the mail this week include staggering increases for single-family homes across Delta. Regardless of location, age or size, pretty much every home in the municipality has experienced a significant jump in value.
House values up significantly Assessment notices show increases in excess of 40% in all three Delta communities SANDOR GYARMATI
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Despite a warning from BC Assessment to expect large property assessment increases, Delta homeowners still got a jolt this week as their annual notices arrived featuring substantial hikes.
All three areas of Delta saw “typical” increases in excess of 40 per cent, values that reflect a red hot real estate market in the first half of 2016. According to BC Assessment, a “typical” single-family property in Ladner jumped from $675,000 to $967,400, a 43 per cent increase. In Tsawwassen, a
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“typical” single-family property was up 44 per cent, a jump from $1,186,000 to $1,707,000. Even North Delta saw a sharp increase with the typical home up 48 per cent from the previous year. Strata units increased 15 to 30 per cent in assessed value. BC Assessment deputy asses-
sor Brian Smith told the Optimist thanks to the heated market in the first-half of 2016 assessment increases of 30 to 50 per cent can be seen across the region, from Vancouver to Hope. “You can make the logical argument, ‘If I’m selling my property in Vancouver for $5 million, I could buy something
in Surrey, or Richmond or whatever, for $2 million and I banked a lot of money,’” he said. “The money just moves out.” As far as how the increase could impact property taxes, Smith noted it’s all dependent on the average change within a municipality and property type. TAXES: see Page 3
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