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The BC government is raising the threshold for the province’s homeowner grant well past the $1 million mark, which Finance Minister Mike de Jong said is in response to rising assessments, even though some assessments are going down.
Homeowners in the Greater Vancouver area with homes assessed at $1,295,000 will be eligible for a $570 reduction in their property taxes.
“The homeowner grant helps keep property taxes affordable for families, even as property value assessments rise,” de Jong said.
“By ensuring the homeowner grant threshold keeps pace with assessments, we’re helping families with the costs of owning their homes and ensuring at least 95.5% of BC home owners are eligible for the full grant.”
Overall, sales and median prices of homes in BC have dropped, according to the BC Assessment Authority. Some assessments will therefore go down.
For the July-September period, for example, there were 11,529 single-family home sales with a median sale price of $465,000 in 2011. That dropped to 9,091 sales and a median sale price of $426,500 for the same period in 2012.
Similarly, condo sales dropped for the same period. There were 8,392 condo sales in July-September 2011, with a median sale price of $339,900; that decreased to 6,355 sales and a median price of $318,000.
According to the BC Assessment Authority’s 2013 list of priciest residential properties in BC, Belmont Avenue and Point Grey Road in Vancouver are the Boardwalk and Park Place of BC.
Belmont Avenue boast 17 homes in the $13 million to $39 million range. Point Grey Road has 14 homes assessed at $12.9 to $35 million.
The province’s most expensive piece of residential property is a mansion at the corner of Belmont Avenue and Blanca Street in Point Grey, worth $39.3 million.
© 2012 Real Estate Weekly (REW.ca)