Immaculate home in great location. This one owner home has 3 bedrooms & 3 baths w/potential for a 4th bdrm (large bdrm on 2nd level can be split). Numerous updates incl flooring, paint, heat pump (central a/c), hot water tank, furnace, roof 10 years old, baths & more. Open great room floor plan on the main floor, kitchen has an island & lots of storage. French door off of the bright living room that leads to a private sundeck/patio overlooking the yard. The laundry is a short distance from the main living space & boasts lots of storage & conveniently located beside the back entrance. Large rec room in the basement w/gas fireplace & lots of storage. Tons of parking, w/room for an RV. This home can also accommodate an inlaw suite. Private landscaped yard w/mature trees for privacy. This is a half duplex home but only shares a very small portion of the wall & entrance is on another road. Feels like a single family home at a great price, you won’t even know you are attached at all.
To view all homes for sale in Kamloops click here.
This article was written by Cam Fortems of the Kamloops Daily News on January 3rd, 2012.
The average property assessment in Kamloops declined slightly in 2011, the first time values have gone down in a decade.
Homeowners began receiving notices Tuesday from B.C. Assessment Authority.
Graham Held, deputy assessor for B.C. Assessment Authority, said the numbers show a market that’s largely unchanged from a year ago. The market value of all single- and multi-family homes in Kamloops declined by 1.46 per cent, measured between July 1, 2010, and July 1, 2011.
The City of Kamloops will use that number to adjust its mill rate down. Property owners who see values decline more than 1.46 per cent will see a corresponding savings on their tax bill in June while those on the plus side will pay more. City council has also yet to set its general tax increase.
In the big picture, Heid said the market has been largely unchanged for several years.
“What we’re looking at for the City of Kamloops is it’s at about the same level, plus or minus five per cent,” he said.
The assessment authority values homes at July 1 the preceding year. But Held said little market shift occurred in the past six months.
“It still looks pretty flat.”
Brian Ledoux, president of Kamloops District Real Estate Association, said the flat and slightly declining prices come as no surprise. They are in the wake of increases in the mid-2000s in property values of up to 20 per cent a year, in back-to-back years.
Ledoux said he expects little change in the current trend. Last year the assessment authority calculated that property values climbed about three per cent on average.
“We’re looking at slight, slow and steady increase of one to three per cent in 2012,” he said, noting interest rates remain near historic lows and show few signs of moving up.
MLS sales in December in the City were up by seven per cent over the same month last year, something Ledoux said is a positive sign for the new year.
Reflecting the assessment values, the association calculated the median price for a single-family home here declined a little more than one per cent, to $327,000 at the end of the year.
One recent positive sign is a decline of 460 listings, bringing the number of homes for sale on the MLS to about 2,400. That inventory remains high by historical standards, however.
“It’s good it’s (inventory) coming down. but it’s got some more room to come down,” Ledoux said.
B.C. Assessment Authority tracks the market value of property as well as growth through building and subdivision.
The latest roll growth of about $25 million is the smallest in the past five years. Roll growth between 2008 and 2009 was $1 billion, both from market increases and new development.
Property owners concerned about their valuations must submit a notice of appeal by Jan. 31 in order to qualify for a hearing in front of the Property Assessment Review Panel. Hearings are set between Feb. 1 and March 15.
Price mixed in city neighbourhoods
B.C. Assessment Authority calculated values for typical houses in several Kamloops neighbourhoods, showing a mix of increases and declines:
Sahali and Aberdeen declined to an average of $404,000, down about $6,000 from the year before.
East Kamloops (Valleyview, Juniper, Barnhartvale and Dallas) up to $392,000, an increase of $4,000.
Batchelor Heights increased by $7,000 to $374,000.
North Shore (Brocklehurst and North Kamloops) decreased $3,000, to $303,000.
Property values in neighbouring municipalities were also typically down or flat. The largest decrease was felt at Sun Peaks, where values stayed the same or decreased by as much as 15 per cent.
This article appeared on CBC News on January 3rd, 2012.
The B.C. government has raised the threshold for homeowner property grant to $1.285 million to accommodate rising property values.
The news comes as hundreds of thousands of annual property assessments are being prepared for B.C. property owners by the government. Last year, the threshold was $1.15 million. The grant effectively reduces the property tax paid by most B.C. homeowners by up to $1,045
Every year the province adjusts the grant to ensure 95.5 per cent of homeowners receive the full amount of the grant. Those with homes above the threshold may still be eligible for part of the grant.
“The homeowner grant provides a maximum reduction in residential property taxes on principal residences of $570 in the Capital, Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley regional districts and $770 elsewhere in the province,” said a statement issued by the government on Tuesday.
“An additional grant of $275 is available to those who are age 65 or over, permanently disabled or a veteran of certain wars,.”
“We continue to see challenging economic times around the world. By maintaining the homeowner grant, we continue to help families with the costs of owning their homes,” said Finance Minister Kevin Falcon in the statement.
The grant is only available to Canadian citizens and to landed immigrants who normally reside in B.C.
This article appeared in the Globe and Mail on December 30th, 2011 and was written by Katherine Scarrow.
As global housing markets coughed and sputtered in 2011, Canada’s barrelled ahead, even turning a few nervous heads along the way.
In fact, recently the Economist branded Canada one of the nine countries where “home prices are overvalued by about 25 per cent or more,” and among the four where prices are in line with those in the United States “at the peak of its bubble.”
Is there really a cause for alarm? Are we doomed to ride this white-knuckled roller coaster in 2012? Probably not, according to Benjamin Tal, deputy chief economist of CIBC.
“The housing market of tomorrow will not be as exciting as the housing market of yesterday,” he said in an interview.
While the current real estate market is overshooting, with home prices far higher than than they should be, we shouldn’t expect a crash either, he explains. As long as interest rates remain relatively low and subprime mortgages kept at bay, the most likely scenario is that the market will plateau.
“Prices are already softening, housing starts aren’t in the sky, MLS [multiple listing service] activity is starting to soften, so it suggests the market is already starting to level off, and that’s what we need,” he said.
How will a more relaxed real estate market affect new home buyers, investors and renovators in 2012? Here are Mr. Tal’s predictions:
1. First-time home buyers
Affordability and interest rates will be the major concerns in 2012. Prices will continue to be expensive, especially in urban centres like Vancouver and Toronto, since interest rates are likely to remain low for the time being.
But rates won’t stay low forever, which is why you should estimate mortgage payments based on interest rates that are 2 or 3 percentage points higher than current interest rates, and if you cannot afford that, get a smaller mortgage and buy a less expensive house.
Expect an end to bidding wars, or at least a temporary ceasefire. New home buyers will have the luxury of time in terms of looking at properties without being rushed into decisions. That’s the positive. The negative is that prices continue to be drastically higher than they were five or 10 years ago.
2. Investors and flippers
If you’re in it to flip it – meaning you buy a home hoping the price will rise by just doing minimal changes – those days are over.
In some pockets of the country, you may even see prices go down.
3. Renovators
The cost of renovations will not increase significantly so long as interest rates remain at their current level, so it’s a good idea to take advantage of this time to finance these projects.
For those looking to take on a second mortgage, remember to make sure you’re equipped to finance them if interest rates creep up.
Variable-rate mortgages are still a good option for those who are able to withstand fluctuations in the market and “ride the ups and downs without getting a stomach ache.”
Immaculate home in great location. This one owner home has 3 bedrooms & 3 baths w/potential for a 4th bdrm (large bdrm on 2nd level can be split). Numerous updates incl flooring, paint, heat pump (central a/c), hot water tank, furnace, roof 10 years old, baths & more. Open great room floor plan on the main floor, kitchen has an island & lots of storage. French door off of the bright living room that leads to a private sundeck/patio overlooking the yard. The laundry is a short distance from the main living space & boasts lots of storage & conveniently located beside the back entrance. Large rec room in the basement w/gas fireplace & lots of storage. Tons of parking, w/room for an RV. This home can also accommodate an inlaw suite. Private landscaped yard w/mature trees for privacy. This is a half duplex home but only shares a very small portion of the wall & entrance is on another road. Feels like a single family home at a great price, you won’t even know you are attached at all.
The average property assessment in Kamloops declined slightly in 2011, the first time values have gone down in a decade.