Category: Kamloops Real Estate News

This article was written by James Peters of CFJC News and appeared on their website on January 13th, 2016.

Kamloops — The final numbers are in for 2015, and the Kamloops new home construction market performed almost exactly as well as it did in 2014.

According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, a total of 523 new units were started last year, just five more than the year previous.

CMHC Market Analyst Taylor Pardy says don’t expect big changes in that number any time soon.

“The outlook for new construction in Kamloops is expected to be positive for the 2015-2017 period in general, with total housing starts remaining steady,” said Pardy adding, “new housing construction will be supported by a combination of low mortgage rates, population growth, and a balanced re-sale market”

Pardy also indicated that stability is very positive, especially considering the uncertainty much of the rest of Canada is seeing right now.

This article appeared on Kamloops This Week‘s website on January 4th, 2016 and was written by Cam Fortems.

Valleyview and Barnhartvale led city neighbourhoods in a 2015 assessment marked by continued moderate growth for Kamloops and the region.

Homeowners will tear open their assessment letters arriving in the mail this week — or check online — to find values in the range of minus five per cent to plus 10 per cent. Most neighbourhoods saw property values increase in the range of two or three per cent.

“For the most part, values are fairly constant,” said area assessor Graham Held. “Graphically. you can see the vast majority are in the zero to five per cent range [of increase].”

The City of Kamloops uses the calculations as part its annual tax assessment.

The city’s revenue manager, Parissa Bhullar, said a precise average is not yet available. That average will determine whether property owners will get a break or pay higher property taxes in 2016.

On a neighbourhood basis, Barnhartvale homeowners saw the biggest average increase — at $24,000, or about 6.5 per cent. That compares to lower increases in Juniper Ridge, Westmount and Batchelor Heights, where values are up a half per cent or less.

Values are calculated as of July 1, 2015.

The city also saw about $382 million in new construction for the period between July 2014 and July 2015. Held said the higher volume of sales recorded this year helps with valuations. “Sales values were strong, which is good for us because everything is based on sales,” he said.

Held said property owners who believe there is an error or that their values are misrepresented should call B.C. Assessment Authority for a potential correction or to book a time for an appeal with the property assessment review panel.

The deadline to file an appeal is Feb. 1.

Based on moderate increases, Held said call volumes to the office, as well as appeals, are expected to be down.

Across the region, Chase and Sun Peaks saw the highest average increases — as much as 15 per cent  — with Logan Lake and the North Thompson among the lowest.

An Active Real Estate Market

While real-estate sales cooled in December, the year 2015 marked an active real estate market in Kamloops.

Kamloops & District Real Estate Association recorded a 14 per cent increase in unit sales for the year, to reach almost 2,600 units. For December, typically one of the slowest months of the year, the market saw a nine per cent decrease in units sold.

Prices remain moderate, with the median price for a single-family home in Kamloops reaching $375,000. That monthly number can fluctuate widely due to the small monthly sample size. In November, the median price was $393,000.

For the year, the most active neighbourhood for sales was Brocklehurst, followed by Aberdeen and Sahali.

This article appeared in the Kamloops This Week on November 30th, 2015 and was written by Cam Fortems.

Kamloops should escape the price shock homeowners in many parts of the province will experience when they tear open assessment notices next month.

Area deputy assessor Graham Held said yesterday that, while real-estate sales volumes in the Thompson region remain healthy, the market is not seeing the wild price increases found in the Lower Mainland.

“We’re looking at another flat market this year, a marginal increase,” Held said of assessment valuations.

Property owners across B.C. receive assessment notices in the first week of January. Those notices reflect property values as of July 1 the previous year.

“Certainly in the Kamloops market, it’s marginal increases,” Held said.

Kamloops & District Real Estate Association president Cyndi Crossley agreed price increases in this market have been moderate.

“We’re incredibly different than the rest of the province,” she said.

“It seems every time I have a conference call [with other real-estate association presidents], we’re the anomaly.

“Everyone else has a roller-coaster market. Kamloops is really stable.”

Assessment increases last year ranged from zero to about 10 per cent in some areas of the city.

Held said this year’s assessment is expected to continue that trend of price stability.

Some markets, including Vancouver Island and the Okanagan, have seen ripples from Greater Vancouver, where prices for single-family homes are up in the range of 20 per cent in some areas.

“We’ve been there in 2007,” Crossley said.

“It gets to the point were you don’t know what to advise your client, it’s so crazy.”
Property purchase tax relief?

Kamloops-area realtors are hoping the province will bring relief to local buyers from the property purchase tax (PPT) in the coming budget.

The B.C. Liberal government has mulled changes to the PPT, in part to cool the high end of the overheated Vancouver housing market.

Suggestions by Finance Minister Mike de Jong have included increasing that tax on homes above a certain value and giving relief on the lower end.

“For young buyers buying a second home . . . that could add up to $6,000 or $8,000 said Cyndi Crossley, president of Kamloops & District Real Estate Association.

Today, the tax is assessed on one per cent of the first $200,000 and two per cent thereafter.

First-time buyers are exempt up to $475,000.

“I hope they’ll readjust,” she said of the B.C. Liberal government.

“Any savings we can give buyers will be huge.”

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