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Cochrane residential property assessments numbers down

An average single family home in town is $470,100, which is down from $479,900 last year.
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A group of townhouses in the community of Riverstone off River Avenue in Cochrane. Photo by Cathi Arola

Town council was updated on property assessments Monday night (Jan. 13) and the fall in residential property values will likely not be a surprise for most Cochranites.

Residential property assessments decreased from last year, while commercial and industrial assessments have remained stable.

Here is a breakdown of changes for residential properties from 2019: single family homes are down 2.04 per cent; duplexes and townhomes are down 6.05 per cent and condominiums are down 3.60 per cent.

“This obviously doesn’t tie to market value. It’s assessed value,” said Mayor Jeff Genung at council.

 “There’s a lot of confusion in the public about those two. Some people say ‘my house is worth more than that’. In this case you may not want your house to be worth more because you pay more taxes on that.”

An average single family home in town is $470,100, which is down from $479,900 last year. 

Council was told that Cochrane’s assessments are in line with others in the region. In Calgary a median single family home is worth $455,000, compared with $475,000 in 2019. The City of Calgary reported that residential assessments are down four per cent this year.

“The total adjustment in prices is a 10 per cent decline since the 2014 slowdown in the energy sector,” reported the Calgary Real Estate Board in a news release.

Assessments are legislated under the Municipal Government Act and are prepared each year. The current assessments are based on local economic conditions as of July 1, 2019 and the physical condition of each property as of December 31, 2019.

Local realtor Kendra Watt said town assessments are based on “old data”, while real estate sales and leasing rates are based on “current data”.

“That means we're talking about two different types of data essentially but in general, the real estate market is still a bit depressed in both residential and commercial sectors,” Watt said.

The town reports that assessments are built using mass appraisal techniques, which determine property values by grouping similar properties at a specific point in time. Assessments do not reflect a single sale price, but show typical market value on the same date each year.

Cochrane residents can expect to see their property assessments in the next week. They will be mailed Jan. 20, separately from tax bills. Property owners can review their assessments and raise any concerns before taxes are calculated. Owner who feel their assessment is inaccurate can request more information or file a formal complaint within 60 days of the assessment notice.

Before filing a complaint, property owners can call a Town assessor to discuss their concerns at 403-851-2950. In some cases assessors can resolve complaints without launching a formal process.

For more information visit: www.cochrane.ca/Assessment. To determine if your property’s assessment is reasonable, you can compare it to similar properties: at cochrane.ca/PropertySearch or call 403-851-2950.

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