BCBusiness

B C D E V E L O P M E N T S P e C I A l F e A T u r e The Boom Reaches Middle Age Amid rule changes and interest-rate rises, developers are working hard to address the residential supply problem. But there are still challenges few outside the industry know about I t doesn't take long after the Christmas holidays to get British Columbians talking about real estate. For while lawyers, agents and municipal sta• are all taking a much-needed break, the BC Assessment Authority is bracing for a media onslaught once its annual notices of assessment are sent out and posted online for all British Columbians to see. It's the one time each year when members of the Appraisal Institute of Canada – B.C., most speci•cally those who work for the BC Assessment o•ce, are in the news. Notably, Lululemon founder Chip Wilson's Point Grey Road mansion remains the province's most highly assessed property—up $3 million from 2017 to $78.8 million. There were surprises within this year's data. Due to the lack of supply and the upcoming tightening of lending rules for •rst-time homebuyers, provincial assessments for condominiums rocketed through the roof—assisted by foreign buyers shifting their purchases from single-family homes to cheaper proper- ties. While single-family homes crept up between 1.5 and 2.6 percent throughout the Lower Mainland, assessments for strata-title condominiums and townhomes rose from 15 to 30 percent, especially in the fast-growing Fraser Valley. The untold story behind the current assessments has taken place on the commercial front, especially in the City of Vancouver, where many small businesses that happen to own their buildings were hammered with assessment increases of over 50 percent, on top of 20 to 30 percent the previous year. Graham Held's take: Don't shoot the messenger. Held is president of the Appraisal Institute of Canada – BC and is a deputy assessor with BC Assessment in Kamloops. Established in 1973, AICšBC represents approximately 1,000 members and delivers AIC's member programs and services. "What's important to remember is that each assessment is taken from a snapshot in time; speci•cally, on July 1, 2017," Held says. With over two million properties in the province to appraise annually, his o•ce utilizes both technolo£y and proven principles to ensure fairness and accu- racy. And while the media usually publishes stories about rare anomalies where assessments have skyrocketed, perhaps unfairly, the truth is that in any given year less than two percent of property owners in the province will challenge their assessment. While BC Assessment grabs the headlines, Held notes that "many of our members are employed as fee-appraisers, who are certi•ed to appraise properties for a wide range of purposes, most commonly for mortgage approval from banks." These appraisers will likely be very busy in 2018, since the quantitative easing of money supply that has made borrowing easy for the past decade has come to an end with the •rst of two, and possibly three, interest rate hikes coming up. These interest rates a•ect both homeown- ers and private investors. Arash Rezai is a commercial real estate broker with Lee and Associates (formerly DTZ Vancouver) focusing on investment properties. "Over the past 50 years our Vancouver o•ce and its brokers have been very successful due to their relation- ships and partnerships within the industry," he says. Rezai observes that "there is a lot of active capital in Vancouver, and the market is healthy and competitive. We british Pacific Properties' Cypress Village plan promises a diverse and sustainable community in West Vancouver

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