Lethbridge’s hot housing market sparks higher assessments

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on January 10, 2025.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

With property assessment notices being mailed out last week, some Lethbridge homeowners might wonder how the value of their property is assessed, and two experts have answers to some of those questions.
Larry Laverty, manager of assessment and taxation with the City of Lethbridge, says property values are influenced by a variety factors, including the housing market.
“There are multiple reasons why property values are different in different areas,” says Laverty. “Sometimes it’s due to inflation. In Lethbridge, overall prices are going up, the supply and demand of property also influences, as there is more demand than there is supply.”
He adds that individual property values can vary based on location, home type, whether there have been any renovations, and other property characteristics.
“If one has air conditioning and another one doesn’t, that changes the value. Fireplaces, lot size,  many factors can influence value.”
When it comes to property values in newer versus older neighbourhoods, Laverty says is not so much about the location itself, but the property characteristics within that neighbourhood.
“You can have older neighbourhoods where most of the houses have been completely renovated and that would increase the property values. There’s just too many factors at play.”
He also explains that property assessments are based on the value of the property as of July of the previous year.
“This year’s assessments are based on the value as of July 1, 2024,” says Laverty. “The physical condition of the property is Dec. 31, 2024, so imagine the house as it stands Dec. 31 and you bring that back to July 1 and see what would that have been worth on July 1.”
Property values continue to increase year to year, unless the housing market changes or something changes within the property.
“A fire or something like that would drop its value, temporarily at least,’ says Laverty. “People may have had their basement developed but they didn’t like it and they removed it so that could change the property value.”
Cathy Maxwell, CEO of the Lethbridge and District Association of Realtors, says the city’s housing market right now is hot. Property values continue to increase and houses are selling very quickly.
“In 2024, we had a pretty good year,” she says. “We saw an increase of sales by about seven percent. We also saw an eight-percent increase overall in the average house price and right now we’re sitting at about $390,000 for an average house price.”
She explains that the average house price includes all types of houses, such as detached, semi-detached (duplexes), row houses and apartments.
Maxwell adds that this affects the City of Lethbridge assessments as they look at what is happening in the real estate market and then slowly try to adjust their assessments.
“When the city has to set out their assessment numbers, it has to do with their budget, their revenue needs,” says Maxwell. “So the real estate market is a piece, but it’s not the only thing that they look at.”
Property values are influenced by many factors, including renovations done and the type of materials used for them. For example, quartz or granite counter tops and even high-quality paint and flooring can increase the value.
“Other items that influence the property value are the age of the furnace, new windows, air conditioning. These are all things that will add dollars to the list price,” says Maxwell.
She says two houses in a neighbourhood might look similar in the outside, but it is what is in the inside that has the most influence on the price in most cases.

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