Your house is valued at a little bit more today.

The Daily News featured the BC Assessment announcements today on the front page of the paper, with details of the assessed value of property along the north coast.

Value of a Rupert home surges to seven-year high
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Page One

Most homeowners in Prince Rupert will see the value of their homes rise between 20 and 30 percent on this year’s assessment notices, with the overall value of the local assessment roll bouncing back to 1999 levels.

“Most homes in Prince Rupert are worth more on this year’s assessment roll than they were on the 2006 assessment roll,” said Scott Sitter, Northwest Deputy Assessor. “The residential portion of Prince Rupert’s assessment roll has increased over 20 per cent. Most home owners will see increases in their assessments ranging from 20 to 30 per cent.”

Overall Prince Rupert’s assessment roll increased from approximately $928 million last year to just under $1.1 billion this year. The residential portion increased from just under $513 million to just over $627 million.

The property assessment roll for Prince Rupert has not hit the one Billion dollar mark since 1999 when it began a series of large drops.

The drops in property values continued until 2005 when it leveled out at $829,684,554 and began climbing back upwards..

The real estate market creates property value which is reported annually by the B.C. Assessment authority. Changes in property value are reflective of the local real estate market and can vary greatly from property to property. When estimating a property’s market value, a professional appraiser analyzes current sales in the area, as well as considering other characteristics such as size, age, quality, condition, view and location.

Meanwhile, most homes in Port Edward are also worth more this year than they were last year, with assessments increasing by an average of 10 per cent.

Port Edward’s assessment role grew from $57.5 million to $66.5 million and the residential portion increased from just under $26 million to just over $27.5 million.
The average increase in residential assessment values in Prince Rupert was the largest average rise among communities in the region.