Big rise in Burns Lake home assessments

Housing dollar value assessments in Burns Lake have risen significantly this year, according to the B.C. Assessment Authority.

Sales market data, compiled as of July 1, 2021, shows that the average value for a home in Burns Lake is $218,000, up from $179,000 the year prior. This is a 21 per cent increase in just one year. Northern B.C. as a whole has seen a rise, as several municipalities average home value has increased by over 30 per cent.

In Houston, the average home value rose this year from $167,000 to $226,000, good for a 35 per cent increase.

“All during the pandemic, the real estate market has remained robust across the province including higher demand throughout Northern B.C., which has resulted in higher 2022 assessment values for most homeowners in the region,” said Northern B.C. Deputy Assessor Beau Rossel in a press release. “Northern B.C. property values for most communities are generally up five to 35 percent with only a couple of exceptions.”

These assessments only include single family homes, otherwise known as stick built homes, and homes that fall within municipal boundaries.

Lakes District News asked Rossel to provide additional information for homes that are in rural areas, as well manufactured homes. “In the entire Regional District of Bulkley Nechako, the average value of a manufactured home was $124,000 for the 2021 roll, and is $136,000 for the 2022 roll, for an increase of about 9.5 per cent, and the average value of a single family rural home was $229,000 for the 2021 roll, and is $264,000 for the 2022 roll, for an increase of about 15 per cent,” he said.

On Jan. 3, property owners began receiving their individual assessments, which contain information local governments will now take and use to set property tax rates for the coming year, though significant changes in an individual property’s assessed value does not necessarily mean taxes will also increase.

It depends on is where the assessment for an individual property sits within the average change of that property’s class within the taxing authority.

If the new assessment is lower than the average, taxes might decrease. If the opposite occurs, taxes might then increase.