While property assessments have spiked all over the North Shore this year, at the high end of the real estate market – a world of ocean-front infinity pools, wine cellars and yacht “garages” values have rocketed into the stratosphere.
Driven by a frenzy of luxury home sales in the first half of 2016, the top property assessments are part of a very exclusive club indeed.
This year, the three highest assessments in West Vancouver are all above the $30-million mark.
The top assessment – for an 11,000-square-foot home on the West Bay waterfront, at 3330 Radcliffe Ave. – was $35.2 million this year, up from $29.7 million last year and $24.2 million in 2015, a 45 per cent increase in two years. The second-highest assessment – at 1690 Marlowe Pl. in the British Properties – was worth $31.2 million, up from $24.7 million last year.
The third-highest assessment was for a $30.9-million home on the Dundarave waterfront, at 2588 Bellevue Ave. – up from $26.5 million last year.
Waterfront mansions in neighbourhoods like West Bay and Sandy Cove continue to be the most sought-after addresses for the uber wealthy.
While assessed values typically lagged behind market value in the past, that does not necessarily appear to be the case anymore. Three properties sold on the exclusive Marlowe Place in the British Properties for between $5 million and $5.8 million last February and March are now valued at about $1 million more than their selling price.
Currently the highest-listed property for sale on the North Shore on realtor.ca is a 7,700-square-foot waterfront mansion at 5240 Marine Dr. in West Vancouver, going for $25 million.
Last year, one of the most expensive properties sold was a home at 5363 Kew Cliff Rd. in West Vancouver – boasting a yacht garage with elevator access – which was listed for $24 million but went for $20 million in May. Another home, at 2882 Bellevue Ave., was sold in March for $12.5 million.
In the District of North Vancouver, properties with the highest assessed values this year were, as usual, found on the Dollarton waterfront. Nine of the top 10 highest assessments were in the 600- to 900-block area of Beachview Drive. This year, however, all of the top four assessments cracked the $10-million mark.
The highest-assessed property in the area was a home at 828 Beachview Dr., valued at $10.4 million. Neighbours at 672 Beachview with a home assessed at $10.2 million and at 650 Lowry Lane with an assessment of just over $10 million rounded out the top three.
In the City of North Vancouver, nine of the top 10 assessments were single-family homes this year, many of them in the Tempe Heights and Grand Boulevard neighbourhoods. The highest assessment, however, went to a penthouse suite in a waterfront condominium tower at 1301-199 Victory Ship Way, which clocked in at $4.4 million.
A new five-bedroom house, constructed in 2016, at 355 Somerset St. in Tempe Heights was the second-highest assessment at $3.9 million.
The third-highest assessment in the city was the heritage Hamersley House at 350 East Second St. with a value of $3.4 million.
