realtor

If you like this post, please click the +1 button just below this line

City Assessment Value vs. Market Value

Image via Wikipedia

Every now and then, and usually in the busy spring market, I will meet with home and condo buyers who make reference to “City Assessment Value” of homes.  These folks were placing a lot of weight on the City of Winnipeg Assessment Value of the homes the either own, or wish to purchase, and were questioning whether the “Listing Price” of a certain house was realistic, or whether it was too high.

Now, anyone who has ever read any of my blog, or spoken to me directly, knows that in my opinion, “Listing Prices” in Winnipeg are most often set unrealistically LOW….  so having people suggest that the listing price was too high was something new….:-)

I explained that City Assessment has, in actuality, very little to do with real Market Value.  There are several reasons for this, including:

1) City Assessment does not know about recent improvements to the home, such as New Furnace, New Windows, Fully Finished Basements, etc

2) City Assessment does not take into consideration any additions to the home, such as sunrooms, family rooms, swimming pools

3) City Assessment is unable to keep up with fast changing market increases in Winnipeg.

.

I went thru this exercise a couple of years ago, but I am confident that the results would be no different today.  In 2010 I checked a dozen different, random sales.

Neighbourhood        Style                      List $              Sold $           City Assessment

River Heights                Bng                         219,900            219,900            196,000

River Heights               2-St.                        279,900            295,200            251,000

Charleswood                  Bng                        249,900            249,900            226,000

Charleswood                  2-St                       289,900            282,000            231,000

LindenWoods                2-St                        289,900            297,000            276,000

River Park South            Bng                        199,900            232,500            179,000

River Park South            Bng                        249,900            285,700            237,000

River Park South            2-St                       299,900            280,200           223,000

Island Lakes                     Bng                      239,000             245,000           196,000

St.James/Assin.              2-St                      279,900              279,000           242,000

St.James/Assin.              Bng                        249,000            280,500           211,000

W/Kildonan                     Bng                        209,900            217,000           188,000

Garden Grove                  Bng                        239,900            239,000           204,000

Some astute folks will no doubt point out that some homes actually sold for less-than-asking, but that’s the subject for a different blog post altogether.

If you are looking to buy a house, or buy a condo, or thinking of selling, contact me via cell at 333-2202 or email me anytime.  I’d love to help!

Related articles

• Expired Listing? House did not sell? What is the next step? (bokauffmann.com)
• Top 6 Winnipeg Real Estate Blog posts of 2011 (bokauffmann.com)
• Winnipeg spring 2012: A great time to sell real estate? (bokauffmann.com)

Technorati Tags: city assessment, condominium, Condominiums, houses, market value, real estate, real estate market, realtor, realtors, winnipeg, winnipeg real estate, Winnipeg Real Estate Market Update

{ 1 comment }