Property assessments on the North Shore stayed relatively flat in 2024, according to the newest data from BC Assessment.
The District of North Vancouver saw the single-family home rise two per cent in 2024, for a median value of $2,124,000. The City of North Vancouver’s single-family lots saw their median value increase by just $2,000 for a total $1,990,000.
Homes in the District of West Vancouver remained among the most expensive in Metro Vancouver at $3,052,000 but the median assessment in 2024 was virtually unchanged from 2023. Only the University Endowment Lands around UBC and Point Grey saw a higher median assessment at $5,535,000.
The strata market on the North Shore similarly saw just minor fluctuations. West Vancouver’s median condo assessment fell one per cent to $1,388,000, though it remains the highest in the Lower Mainland. Strata homes in the District of North Van inched up one per cent, on average, for a median price of $940,000. And the City of North Vancouver’s strata assessments were flat, seeing just a $3,000 increase to a median $839,000.
“Across the Lower Mainland and throughout B.C., the overall housing market has generally stabilized in value for a second consecutive year,” said BC Assessment assessor Bryan Murao in a release on Thursday morning.
North Vancouver real estate agent Anthony Riglietti said he was not surprised to see assessments remain static, given the activity in the real estate market in 2024.
“You had a bit of a standoff between both sides in the last year,” Riglietti said. “With high interest rates, buyers weren’t really buying. And with no sales to actually report, it won’t really change the values too much. Nothing was really moving.”
The agency calculates assessments based on the market value of home sales as of July 1. Municipalities use assessment rolls at budget time to determine the total taxable value of the land in their jurisdictions and set tax rates accordingly. Someone whose individual property value shot up in value more than the average in their municipality are more likely to face higher taxes as a result.
But Riglietti always cautions – assessed values from six months ago have little to do with market values today. Interest rates have fallen two percentage points since July. Factoring that into a Metro-Vancouver-sized mortgage is “a huge chunk of change,” he said, and already, sales were picking up by the end of 2024.
West Vancouver real estate agent Clara Hartree, however, attributed the lack of growth in 2024 assessments on her side of the Capilano River to something else.
“I don’t think it’s interest rates. It’s the taxes and difficulties that the NDP causes for investors,” Hartree said.
Hartree specifically blamed the home flipping tax, which penalizes people who buy homes and turn around and sell them at a profit within 730 days, for sapping confidence in the market.
“So many people made a living with flipping, and there is nothing wrong with flipping. And now you have to wait two years,” she said. “The flipping rule is incredibly unfair. You should be allowed to sell when the market is there.”
As for where things will go in 2025, Riglietti said there will always be demand for homes but the re-election of Donald Trump in the U.S. could having a jarring effect for Canada's economy more broadly.
"Who knows what’s actually going to happen to our economy next month,” he said. “I’m kind of curious to see what happens this month, because I think the first six weeks of this year might be kind of setting the pace for the rest of the year.”
Hartree said she is seeing signs the market may be heating up again. Chinese buyers are continuing to show up to open houses at her listings notwithstanding the federal moratorium buyers who are not citizens, permanent residents or temporary residents. And she said she’s seeing more interest from builders in the Persian community.
“When they buy, they know they can sell. There’s always something they know that we don’t,” she said. “I don’t see it necessarily going up substantially to justify people investing and expecting a big profit, but there is a point now coming up where you can invest and hope not to lose money.”
The total value of all the properties in the Lower Mainland, which includes Metro Vancouver, the Sea to Sky corridor, Fraser Valley and the Sunshine Coast came in at $2.01 trillion in 2024, $27 billion of which was from new developments, rezonings and subdivision.
Total value of B.C. real estate in 2025 is about $2.83 trillion, an increase of about 1.5 percent from 2024.
Assessment notifications for individual property owners will be arriving in the mail, but those wanting a sneak peak can do so online at bcassessment.ca
