Most Greater Victoria homeowners will see property assessments that are eight to 20 per cent higher than last year as assessment notices start landing in mailboxes this week.
With a few exceptions in the central and north Island areas, owners on the rest of the Island can similarly expect a 10 to 20 per cent increase, said Vancouver Island deputy assessor Jodie MacLennan, who cautioned that 2023 assessments are based on what homes could have sold for as of July 1, 2022, before market values began trending downward.
B.C. Assessment sent out more than 384,000 notices to property owners on Vancouver Island.
The largest increase in assessed value for typical single-family homes in Greater Victoria was in Colwood and Highlands, which rose by 16 per cent to $1.02 million and $1.32 million respectively. Victoria saw the typical valuation increase to $1.15 million, an eight per cent rise from last year.
The biggest increases for strata properties were in View Royal, which saw a 20 per cent jump to $633,000 for a typical condo or townhome year-over-year.
In the central Island region, Lake Cowichan saw the largest increase year-over-year, as the typical assessment rose 23 per cent to $642,000, while in the north Island, Sayward saw values for a typical home increase by 28 per cent to $393,000.
The Island’s total assessment value increased to $386 billion from about $342 billion last year. About $4.78 billion of the region’s updated assessments is from new construction, subdivisions and the rezoning of properties.
The assessment is the estimate of a property’s market value as of July 1 and physical condition as of Oct. 31.
B.C. Assessment said changes in value can vary greatly from property to property. To determine value, assessors take into account current sales in an area as well as the size, age, quality, condition, view and location of a property.
With average property values in the province increasing by 12 per cent, the provincial government announced Tuesday it is boosting the homeowner grant threshold to $2.125 million for this year.
Last year, the threshold was $1.975 million. Homeowners whose properties are assessed at or below that threshold qualify for up to $570 for the basic homeowner grant, and as much as $845 for those age 65 or older.
The government said in a statement that raising the threshold means about 92 per cent of residential properties will be eligible for the grant.
MacLennan said big changes in assessed value do not necessarily mean higher property taxes, since taxes are affected only by how the assessment changes relative to the average change in that community — a higher-than-average increase might bringer higher taxes.
Anyone who feels their property assessment does not reflect market value as of July 1, or sees incorrect information on their notice, is advised to contact B.C. Assessment. If they are not satisfied after that, they can submit an appeal.
Property assessment review panels, which are independent of B.C. Assessment, are appointed annually by the province and meet between February and March 15 to hear complaints.
The deadline to file an appeal of an assessment is Jan. 31.
B.C. Assessment said more than 98 per cent of property owners accept their property assessments without a review.
The residential property in the capital region with the highest assessment was once again James Island, at $61.24 million, a jump from the $54.7 million it was valued at last year. James Island ranks third in the province for assessed value. At the top of the list is a $74-million waterfront mansion and compound on Vancouver’s Point Grey Road owned by Lululemon founder Chip Wilson.
The most valuable single-family home in the capital region remains 3160 Humber Rd. in Oak Bay, assessed at $16.8 million — a drop from the $17.875 million valuation it was given last year.
The total value of real estate on the provincial roll is more than $2.72 trillion, up from $2.44 trillion last year. New construction, rezonings and subdivisions accounted for $33.52 billion.
There were more than 2.16 million properties on the 2023 roll, an increase of about one per cent compared to last year.
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.
Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.
Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).
SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.
The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.
WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.
SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.
SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.
SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.
The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.
Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.
“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.
“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”
Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.
On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.
If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.
These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.
If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.
However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.
He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.
“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.
Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.
The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.
Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.
Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.
Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.
Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.
Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”
In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.
“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.
The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.
The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.
RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.
The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.
RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
