Median residential property assessments dropped four to six per cent on the Sunshine Coast in 2023, BC Housing Assessment data shows.
It's the first time in a decade the median assessed value of Sunshine Coast properties has dropped, said BC Assessment assessor Bryan Murao.
The assessments, which local governments use to set tax rates, are based on market value as of July 1, 2023.
Numbers
In the 2024 assessment notices, the District of Sechelt had the largest local decrease, at six per cent, going to a median value of $884,000 in 2024 from $943,000 in 2023 for single-family homes. The Town of Gibsons had a slightly smaller decrease, four per cent, resulting in a median value of $939,000 in 2024 from $982,000 in 2023.
Murao said that the Sunshine Coast trends tend to remain stable compared to other regions in the Lower Mainland. He added that this year’s decrease – seen also in urban areas – represents scaling back in line with rising interest rates.
The 2022 and 2021 average assessments on the Coast rose 13.6 and 46 per cent respectively – at those times the increases attributed to pandemic-related migration to rural areas and the ability to work remotely becoming more popular. Though those trends continue, they don’t have the influence they did in the more COVID-affected years.
A map of average change by property class by jurisdiction from July 2022 to July 2023 provides details specific to each municipality:
- The District of Sechelt had a decrease of 5.1 per cent for single-family residential properties, 3.4 per cent for strata residential, a 1.9 per cent increase for business/other and a 8.6 increase in industrial properties.
- The Town of Gibsons saw a decrease of 3.9 per cent in single-family residential areas, a 2.2 per cent decrease in strata and a 2.5 per cent increase in business/other properties.
- The Sechelt Rural section – the Sunshine Coast Regional District – saw a 0.7 per cent decrease in single-family residential, a 3 per cent increase in strata residential, a 2.6 per cent increase in business/other and a 2.2 per cent increase in industrial areas.
- In the shíshálh Nation Government District (listed as the Sechelt Indian Gov’t Dist.-SD46 by BC Assessment), single-family residential had a decrease of 3.6 per cent while strata saw an increase of 2.6 per cent and a 4.7 per cent increase in business/other.
None of the top 500 valuable residential properties of 2024 in B.C. are found on the Sunshine Coast.
Provincial level
Murao said that due to how much the province is influenced by interest rates, it is difficult to tell if this trend is likely to continue into the coming years.
“To trend forward for 2024, towards the 2025 assessments, you'd really have to have a lot of certainty as to what's going to happen with interest rates over the course of this year … But I don't think anybody knows well enough to demand a lot of money on it,” he said.
Assessments were sent to over two million houses across the province, valued at $2.79 trillion, a three per cent increase from 2023.
The 2024 report shows a value of $39.62 billion was spent on “non-market change,” including new construction, rezoning and subdivisions, increasing 18 per cent from the 2023 value of $33.52 billion.
The Sunshine Coast is part of BC Assessment’s Lower Mainland Category, which includes Greater Vancouver, the Sea to Sky and Fraser Valley.
The total assessments in the Lower Mainland increased to nearly $2 trillion this year from about $1.94 trillion in 2023. Almost $27.2 billion of the region's updated assessments is from new construction, subdivisions and rezoning.
Appeal
Before filing an appeal, Murao encourages residents to use the Assessment search to review their assessment and sales of similar properties to ensure their assessment is accurate.
The website provides an array of information including sales of comparable properties to help homeowners understand their assessed value.
Residents are also encouraged to call BC Assessment before submitting an appeal as most concerns can be solved through a discussion with staff.
The deadline to file a notice of complaint (appeal) is Jan. 31.
Property owners can contact BC Assessment toll-free at 1-866-valueBC (1-866-8258322) or online.
Jordan Copp is the Coast Reporter’s civic and Indigenous affairs reporter. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
