Lethbridge property assessments increase, homes sales expected to be strong in 2023

Lethbridge home and business owners are on the receiving end of a big tax hike, which comes at the end of three years of pandemic measures.

Residential and commercial property owners in Lethbridge should prepare to pay more on their property after the city send out its latest property assessments earlier this month.

“We’re seeing about a 7.6 per cent increase in residential this year compared to last year, that's as of July 1, 2022,” said Larry Laverty, assessment and taxation manager with the City of Lethbridge. “The commercial is about 2.6 per cent.”

The city says the most recent assessment reflects the estimated price a property may have sold for as of July 2022.

“The market has been quite strong over the last couple of years and Lethbridge, like most Alberta municipalities, have seen quite an increase in value over the last couple of years, it's just supply and demand,” Laverty said.

For example, the tax bill on a $300,000 single family home will be $3,272 dollars.

The biggest reason for the increase is the 5.1 per cent hike in municipal taxes city council approved in November, which came after three years of no tax increases during the pandemic.

Despite rising costs, Helen Jacobsen, chair of the Lethbridge and District Association of Realtors says she's expecting a busy year for home sales in the region.

“We know that interest has gone up, but with the surrounding agriculture, the manufacturing, Lethbridge College and possibly the (Lethbridge and District) Agri-food Hub and Trade Centre, we expect it to be strong,” she said.

Jacobsen says low inventory is continuing to drive home prices up.

“The months of supply we have is 5.8 months, so definitely the months of supply have gone up, the inventory, overall, has gone up a bit,” Jacobsen added. “But, the new listings coming on the market has gone down. I would say we have shifted from that market where it favours the seller to more of a balanced market right now.”

She adds the region ended 2022 with more than a six per cent price growth.

“We, of course, see new home buyers from our regions,” Jacobsen said. “We see them coming from the bigger centres, but also, very many interprovincial moves, so we see people coming from the B.C. area, Vancouver, where they've been selling out for higher prices, where they can buy here more affordably.”

Laverty says residents have until March 13 to appeal their assessment, with property tax notices expected to be sent out in May.