Ottawa MPAC assessments rise just 0.9% a year

New property values releasedMondayby theMunicipal Property Assessment Corporationshow the average assessmentof an Ottawa homerose only 3.6 per centoverthe last four years, lessthan in most otherOntario cities.

• Ontario property values up 18%, Municipal Property Assessment Corporation says

Some people who own homes or landin places likeCentretown,RockcliffePark, andFitzroyHarbour will evenreceivenotices in the mail that show a drop.

MPAC says it has assessedthe average Ottawa home at$431,000 for 2016.

A3.6 per cent increase over four yearsis a far cry from the last province-wideMPACassessmentin 2012, when the average notice people receivedshoweda25.9 per cent jump over 2008.

"What we saw in 2012 was Ottawa outpaced a good portion of the province,"MPACpresidentAntoniWisniowskitold CBC News.

But now, homeowners in the 905 region aroundToronto are the ones seeing their assessments rise about40 per cent over four years. Even theaverage assessed valuesfor cities like Thunder Bay, Hamiltonand Kingston are rising more quickly than Ottawa's.

"Certainly we've seen in the last four years, in terms of the sales evidence, that the market has flattened," said Wisniowski of Ottawa.

Condo valuesaffecting citywide average

A sluggish condo market is also pulling down the citywide average for assessments.

"The single family homes have shown a steady increase, across most of Ottawa, of just under one per cent," said Andrew Loney, MPAC'sdirector of valuation and customer relations forEastern Ontario.

"Whereas the condo market has pretty consistently shown a decrease of anywhere from two to five per cent across Ottawa."

He points out new buildings that have gone upin the downtown core are making it especially hard to sell older units.

The averageOttawa condo has an assessed value of$216,000 in 2016.

What are assessed values in your neighbourhood?

The new assessed values for 2016will be used to calculate a property'staxes from 2017 to 2020. Increases are phased in over four years, which representsonly a rise of 0.9 per cent a year,for the average Ottawa home.

If MPACreduces an assessment, however, the entire dropshould be reflectedin 2017.

Check out the map below to see how assessed values have changed in your neighbourhood, but keep in mind it doesn't mean your property taxes will increase or dropby thepercentage shown.

Instead, some homes will likely pay slightly more and others slightly less, depending on how much above or below the city-wide average they find themselves. The total amount of tax money the city collects is unaffected by assessment changes.

• Check out the map here.

Consultant predicts 'larger degree of error'

The stagnantgrowth comes as no surprise to Ottawa-area property tax specialist Glenn Lucas, who has been in the industry for thirty years.

But he's also not convinced that MPAC's assessments will be very accurate and is hiring extra staff to deal with complaints he expects.

"I think there will be a much larger degree of error this year than there's ever been," said Lucas.

Lucas says the Ontario government askedMPACto start sending out property assessments in April, when it normally doesn't do so until October. Given that the property assessment is supposed to be the value of a property onJan. 1, 2016, that gaveMPACfar less time to do its work, Lucas suggested.

Some communities outside of Ottawa received their notices in the spring, so Lucas's firm has already been working on cases east and west of the capital.

"They're substantially off. We don't argue over a few dollars here and there," said Lucas.

He described one assessment inArnpriorthat he had reduced by $100,000, because it was 25 per cent incorrect.

In another case, a property owner had two identical lots, side by side. The value of one increased by 50 per cent, and the other by 10 per cent, Lucas said.

MPAC says data stronger than ever

Wisniowski countered that MPACgot started early and did more "robust" work than ever tofigure outJan. 1, 2016 values.

"We've really worked hard to make sure that first and foremost the data was in really good shape on the inventory,"he said.

Local MPAC teamshave done more inspections of home renovations, andinvestigated more home sales that seemlike they could be anomalies.

Property owners have 120 days to file a request that MPAC reconsider the value it has pegged on a property.

Commercial properties across Ontario won't receivetheir notices until October.