Cost of Buying | Ongoing

Property Tax and the Home Owner Grant

An annual cost that follows the assessed value rather than what you paid, which is why the figure on a listing is often not the figure you will pay.

The short answer

Your bill is the assessed value multiplied by the municipal rate plus regional levies. It follows BC Assessment's valuation, not your purchase price. The home owner grant reduces the bill on a principal residence, subject to an assessed value threshold, and it must be claimed each year.

Every newly built townhouse, half duplex, and row house on the market

1,322 active listings

Median list price
$1,358,000

typical range $845,210 to $2,197,200

Median price per sq ft
$812

typical range $482 to $1,252

Median size
1,607 sq ft

typical range 1,208 sq ft to 2,697 sq ft

Median strata fee
$373

typical range $225 to $642

609 of 1322 listings state one

Median annual property tax
$4,186

typical range $1,888 to $7,463

418 of 1322 listings state one

Measured across 1,322 active listings on .

Where these homes are

Click a pin for the photo, the price, and a Street View link.

300 of 1,322 homes plotted. 943 more have coordinates but were left off to keep the map readable. The ones shown are spread evenly across the price range rather than taken from one end. 79 listings have no coordinates in the feed and cannot be placed. Click a pin for the photo, the price, and a Street View link. Zoom with the plus and minus buttons or by pinching.

Homes behind these numbers

1,307 more active listings are not shown here. Search every active listing . Prices are the list price. Most new homes have GST added on top.

How the bill is built

BC Assessment values every property annually. The municipality sets a rate, and levies for the region, transit, and schools are added. The bill is the product of those.

Buying does not reset the assessment to your purchase price. Two neighbours who paid very different amounts in different years can have near-identical bills.

Why a new home's stated tax can mislead

A home finished in the last year or two may not have been assessed as a completed building yet. The figure on the listing can reflect bare land, or the house that stood there before.

That pushes the stated amount down in a way that has nothing to do with what you will pay once the finished home is assessed. Treat listing figures as indicative and get the real number from BC Assessment and the municipality.

The home owner grant

A provincial reduction on the bill for a principal residence, subject to an assessed value threshold above which it phases out. In a region with high assessed values, plenty of homes sit above it.

It is not automatic. It has to be claimed each year, and people do forget.

Read next

Common questions

Does my property tax change when I buy?

Not because of the purchase. The bill follows BC Assessment's valuation and the municipal rate, and buying does not reset the assessment to your purchase price. A newly completed home usually does see its assessment rise once the finished building is assessed rather than just the land.

Why is the tax figure on the listing so low?

On a newly built home it may reflect the land before the home existed, or the house that was there before, because a full year of assessment has not yet happened. Get the real figure from BC Assessment and the municipality.

What is the home owner grant?

A provincial reduction on property tax for a principal residence, subject to an assessed value threshold above which it phases out. It must be claimed each year and it is not applied automatically.

Where these figures come from

Work the numbers on a real home

Every figure here comes from government sources and from listings you can open. Search the market and check the costs against a specific price rather than a hypothetical one.