Homeowners will begin receiving their latest BC property assessment notices over the next few days.
According to the BC Assessment Authority every market on Vancouver Island experienced an increase in value over the last year -- with the highest increases in northern communities.
In Victoria the average value of a single-family detached home rose 8% from $780,000 to $842,050.
Oak Bay retains it's reputation as the most expensive municipality with an average assessed home valued at $1-million-222-thousand dollars – an increase of 6% over 2018.
Elsewhere the School District 61 portion of Saanich was up 4% ($810,000 from $774,000) and the District 63 portion was up 6% ($1,013,000 from $948,000), as was North Saanich ($925,000 from $871,000).
Highlands saw an 8% rise ($827,00 from $766,500); Langford ($612,00 from $562,000); Esquimalt ($710,800 from $652,000); and View Royal ($742,000 from $680,000) were up 9%; Colwood ($637,000 from $578,000) and Sooke ($501,000 from $452,000) were up 10%; Metchosin ($792,000 from $712,000) increased 11%.
The biggest increase in home values was in Sidney and the Gulf Islands, both with 13% hikes. That puts the market value of a single family home in Sidney at $699,150, and $523,000 on the Gulf Islands.
On the Central Island increases were slightly higher. At 21%, Ucluelet had the biggest jump, pushing the value of a single family home up to $403-thousand from $331-thousand-500.
Elsewhere, Lake Cowichan was up 16%, both Duncan and Nanaimo increased 12%.
But it was the north island that experienced the most pronounced increases. Sayward had the highest jump in value on the island at 44% -- or just over $205-thousand for a single family home. That's followed by Tahsis at 30% and Cumberland up 27%.
In assessing a home's value factors like size, age, quality, condition, view, location and sales in the area are taken into consideration.
If you don't agree with your assessment, or see an inaccuracy, you can launch an appeal may do so by January 31st.
B.C. Assessment can be reached at 1-866-825-8322. Information is also available online at www.bcassessment.ca.
Meantime across the water in Vancouver, the value of single-family home fell by 4%, analysts say it's a sign of a cooling market.