Farm values stable despite market shifts

Property assessments will soon be landing in mailboxes across the province, with the publication of the 2023 tax roll by the BC Assessment Authority.

But farmland assessments in the province are largely unchanged despite the dramatic shifts in the real estate market as a whole, according to BC Assessment.

“Properties with Farm Classification have static legislated land rates applied to them and do not fluctuate with the market compared to most other property types, such as the regular residential market,” BC Assessment told Country Life in BC in a statement.

While the value of non-exempt farm dwellings and improvements do change, in line with similar types of structures in the area, BC Assessment described this as “quite variable.”

While the property market has cooled in recent months, a BC Assessment news release in early December warned property owners that they could see above-market assessments this year as market conditions softened following the July 1 valuation date.

This runs counter to the 5% to 15% increase residential property owners were told to expect last month, thanks to market conditions that prevailed in the first half of last year. Residential is the largest single property type in BC, and sets the pace for the value of provincial tax roll.

BC Assessment reported this week that the province’s 2.2 million properties increased by an average of 12% versus last year to $2.7 trillion.

In October, Farm Credit Canada indicated a 15% average increase in farmland values province-wide between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022.

Farm Credit Canada’s senior assessor for BC did not respond to a request for comment on recent trends.

BC Assessment was unable to provide the number of farm properties on this year’s tax roll, or an aggregate value.

Two years ago, the roll included 52,073 farm properties with an assessed value of $1.29 billion as of the valuation date of July 1, 2020. This was up from approximately 51,000 farm properties worth $1.25 billion as of July 1, 2018.

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17 hours ago

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Love it - Deb Etsell I see you 🤩

7 days ago

BC was the sole province to see farmland values decline in the first half of this year, dropping 1.9% according to a Farm Credit Canada report released Octover 7. This represented an acceleration in value declines from last year, and contributed to a 3.9% decline in the 12 montsh ended June 30. The drop follows on a 1.7% decline last year, which Farm Credit Canada attributed to tougher times in the fruit sector. However, the mid-year report points to a broader slowdown in value growth diven by higher production costs, tighter margins and uncertainty around trade, tariffs and international markets.

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Ndp

3 weeks ago

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Photo | Barb Edmonson / Firefly Ranch, Clinton

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What would you expect from the NDP, when they still had a 2 year mandate?

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250 submissions.... I'm pretty sure there are more than 250 farmers in BC