Stability has settled over local property assessment values, with residential assessment values in Lantzville and Nanaimo remaining virtually unchanged at $11.5 billion overall.
In general, commercial property assessments also remained stable within Nanaimo and Lantzville with a taxable assessment roll of $1.7 billion.
Nearly 38,000 property owners throughout Nanaimo and Lantzville can expect to receive their 2012 assessment notices in the mail in the next few days, while those with access to e-post can already view their assessment.
"Nanaimo is a model of stability. The story of this year compared to last is it's not a lot different. It's a very stable market," said Bill MacGougan, spokesman for B.C. Assessment. "Most homeowners in Nanaimo and Lantzville will see modest changes in the minus 10 per cent to plus five per cent range, though pockets may be outside that range."
In recent years, Nanaimo's real estate market has been strong, pushing assessment values up as much as 15 to 20 per cent. That trend began to level out in 2010, with sales volumes slowing while property values increased marginally, resulting in slowing development over the past two years.
"Development is slowing now compared to what we had gotten used to over the past few years," said MacGougan. "Sales values have slowed considerably over the last two years while the values have held steady."
Nanaimo and Lantzville added almost $179 million in new residential value and $33 million in commercial value during the assessment period. Residential properties account for 90 per cent of the area's assessment roll.
According to B.C. Assessment, the average single family dwelling in Nanaimo as of the evaluation date of July 1, 2011 is assessed at $331,300, down from $334,000 the year before. The average strata condo is at $193,200 for 2012, down from $196,500 last year.
In Lantzville, the average single family dwelling for 2012 is valued at $399,300, down from $410,000 last year.
Across the province, 1.9 million properties had a total real estate value of $1.11 trillion, a 6.4-per cent increase over 2011.
Property owners concerned about their assessment are encouraged to contact the assessment office at 250-753-6621. A notice of complaint must be filed by Jan. 31 for an independent review by a property asessment review panel.
reporter2@nanaimobulletin.com