Mortgage Watch

Now is not the time to sell your home.

Assessed property values are down an average of 10 per cent across the city according to figures released last week, hitting Mill Woods the hardest of Edmonton’s six wards (12.7 per cent) and leaving the downtown core in the best shape with a less drastic 6.6 per cent drop.

The neighbourhoods of Bergman, Newton and North Glenora saw values drop the most, all plummeting by more than 20 per cent between July 2007 and July 2008.

According to the Realtors Association of Edmonton, the local housing market is “repositioned after an uncertain year” and the worst is over. Charlie Ponde, the new RAE president, says house prices are entering a “levelling-off” period.

Ponde is “confident that we have a reasonably good year ahead of us.” The average price of a single detached house was $351,870 last month and the association is forecasting that next December that same house will be $352,000, or virtually unchanged.

Rod Risling with the city’s assessment and taxation branch pointed out at a media briefing last week that there is good news for some since a price decrease means the property owners should face a smaller increase in property taxes this year.

“If you’re a homeowner, you’re happy if the assessed value of your property decreased more than the average,” he said.

On the other end of the spectrum, some areas saw property values increase dramatically. Assessed values in the Weir Industrial, Clareview Business Park, Winterburn Industrial Area West and Rural North Horse Hill neighbourhoods all rose over 20 per cent.

Homeowners whose property values dropped more than 10 per cent will likely pay less than the city’s average 7.3-per cent tax hike this year. Owners whose values dropped less than the average, or increased, will likely pay more.

“One thing to realize is that over time, these increases or decreases in market value even out,” Risling said. “So, even though this year you may have a higher than average decrease, over a period of time you’ll see that this actually evens out.”

The city mailed out about 287,000 residential and 23,000 non-residential property assessment notices on Jan. 2. Property tax bills will be mailed out in May.