Skip to content

Home values rise in islands municipalities

Home values rose in all three Haida Gwaii municipalities last year.
15037585_web1_190111-HGO-HomeValues_8380

Home values rose in all three Haida Gwaii municipalities last year.

The biggest year-to-year change was in Masset, where BC Assessment found that as of July 1, 2018 the median value of a single-family home rose to $97,900 — up 12 per cent from the median value of $86,750 in 2017.

In Port Clements, the median value for a single-family home was up nine per cent, rising to $68,800 from $63,500 the year before.

Together with Masset, Port Clements stands out as one of only five of the largest 34 municipalities in northern B.C. where the median value of a single-family home remains less than $100,000. The others are Stewart, Wells, and Granisle.

In Queen Charlotte, meanwhile, the median assessed value of a single-family home rose to $167,300 in 2018, up 11 per cent from $150,400.

Haida Gwaii property owners should have received an updated assessment in the mail. Any owners concerned that their assessment is incorrect have until Jan. 31 to launch an independent review by phoning 1-866-valueBC or using the bcassessment.ca website, which also features an interactive map showing the latest assessments for all private properties on the islands.

Across B.C.’s northern region, which stretches from Haida Gwaii to the Alberta border, and from just north of Clinton up to the Yukon, the total value of all assessed properties rose to $65.7 from $61.5 billion.

About a quarter of the $4.2-billion increase in value was due to new construction, new subdivisions, or rezoning.

Across the north, Kitimat saw some of the biggest changes in real estate last year. A decision to build the $40-billion LNG Canada plant drove up home sales in the latter part of the year, pushing up the median value of a Kitimat home by 20 per cent to $235,300. In Prince Rupert, values rose to $268,000 from $264,300.

Once again, in 2018 the top 10 most highly valued properties in B.C. were all in Vancouver, led by Lululemon founder Chip Wilson’s $73.1-million property in Point Grey.

However, even that sky-high property saw a slight drop in value last year, as did most homes in metro Vancouver. Starting at $1.82 million in 2017, by last summer the median value of a Vancouver single-family home fell to a measly $1.75 million.