Crooning pays.
That’s one lesson you can take away from the latest B.C. Assessment data.
Burnaby’s own Michael Bublé owns the city’s most valuable home, assessed at $21.7 million as of July 1, 2018. The 7968 Government Rd. property nearly doubled in value from 2017, when it was assessed at $11.7 million.
The world-renowned singer only had to build a massive mansion to earn the new paper wealth.
According to B.C. Assessment, the buildings on the lot were worth $3.7 million in 2017 and $13.3 million in 2018.
The new home was reportedly planned to be 27,000 square feet, but according to B.C. Assessment it’s a mere 22,308 sq. ft. (10,698 sq.-ft. first floor, 335 sq.-ft. second floor and an 11,275 sq.-ft. finished basement).
In 2016, Bublé told TV host Kelly Ripa he was building a hockey rink in the basement of his new home.
“Oh, you are so rich,” Ripa responded.
“I want my kids to be able to have fun and, for me, it’s great exercise,” Bublé told Ripa.
It’s not clear whether the assessors included a hockey rink as part of the finished area.
But the mansion’s construction has also brought controversy to the neighbourhood. In 2016, some neighbours complained about the height of a wall being built on the edge of the property.
Meanwhile, the story was very different for the not-so-famous homeowners of Burnaby.
The average assessed value for single-family detached homes dropped by four per cent from $1.58 million to $1.51 million, while strata units (such as condos) jumped by 12 per cent from $558,000 to $624,000.
The Burnaby numbers are in line with the rest of region.
“Greater Vancouver is now seeing signs of moderation as the real estate market softens in some areas,” states a B.C. Assessment press release.
Single-family home values declined by 12 per cent in West Vancouver, four per cent in Vancouver and North Vancouver, while they rose by 14 per cent in Pemberton, 12 per cent in Gibsons and 11 per cent in Whistler.
For strata units, virtually every municipality saw overall property values higher than last year, including Vancouver and West Vancouver, which saw the most modest total-value increases in the Lower Mainland, both up six per cent overall. Whistler saw the highest overall condo increases, with its total value up a whopping 23 per cent.
- With files from Joannah Connolly, Glacier Media Real Estate
