A sluggish condo market and federal government layoffs are being blamed for the relatively low increase in average property assessments for Ottawa, but certain neighbourhoods are bucking the trend.

After posting a whopping 25 per cent increase for the assessment period ending five years ago, the average assessment increase for homes and vacant land between 2012 and 2016 slowed to just 3.6 per cent, according to the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation.

(The city reported the four-year increase at 3.4 per cent. The difference stems from the fact that the city uses an average, while MPAC uses a median value to express the property assessment increase.)

That's not just well below the provincial average of 18 per cent — to say nothing of the 40-per-cent increases being seen in the Toronto area — but it even falls short of the five per cent average for eastern Ontario.

"If we look at the market over the last four years and some of the things that are happening very locally here in the city of Ottawa, we're a big government town," city deputy treasurer Wendy Stephanson told reporters Monday during a technical briefing.

"We know that the federal government had also done some downsizing, and I think some of that has affected the market, and the slowness of the … prices."

Demand for condos dries up

A once-growing demand for condos also appears to have come to a halt — assessment values for condos actually fell five per cent, dragging down the city-wide rate, while assessments for single family dwellings rose 4.6 per cent.

Coun. Jeff Leiper says he's not surprised home assessments in Kitchissippi ward rose above the city-wide average. (CBC) The assessment for vacant lands jumped eight per cent.

Fourteen of the city's 23 wards saw increases of less than the Ottawa average. The downtown Somerset ward's average property assessments actually contracted by 0.2 per cent, largely due to the stagnant condo market.

At the other end of the scale is Somerset's next-door neighbour Kitchissippi ward, which saw a seven per cent jump in assessed home values.

"I'm not surprised," said Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper, pointing to the "intensifying and gentrifying" neighbourhoods of Hintonburg, Mechanicsville and Wellington West.

"The public transit service we're going to get with LRT here is automatically making this a more attractive neighbourhood."

Rideau-Goulbourn, Kanata South and Stittsville also saw their assessments jump more than five per cent. Those increases are thought to be fuelled not just by higher home values, but also by an uptick in land speculation, which is driving up the price of vacant property.

Assessments spike for some

The city's deputy treasurer confirmed that 15,000 homeowners will see a sharp spike in assessments of more than 13 per cent when their notices arrive in the mail this week. That's a small portion of the 291,000 properties assessed, but a big jump for those homeowners.

I would encourage everyone to take a look at their notice of assessment. Ask themselves a very simply question: Could I [have sold] my property on January 1, 2016 for this amount? - Wendy Stephanson, deputy city treasurer

"We look at typically notifying folks who are at 10 per cent over the average, just to give them an additional heads-up to take a second peek, just to make sure the assessment makes sense," said Stephanson.

"Frankly, I would encourage everyone to take a look at their notice of assessment. Ask themselves a very simply question: Could I [have sold] my property on January 1, 2016 for this amount?"

If the answer is no, homeowners have until November to apply for a reconsideration. About three per cent of homeowners do so in the first year of a four-year assessment period, but fewer than half are successful.

The amount of tax revenue cities collect isn't based on property assessments. Any changes in how much tax property owners pay due to a re-assessment is separate from tax increases levied by city council.

Ottawa homeowners whose assessments came in above the average rate can expect to pay more tax, while those whose assessed value fell below 3.6 per cent will pay less.

MPAC values Ontario properties every four years for municipal tax purposes. The agency looks at five criteria: location; lot size; amount of living space, age of home and quality of construction. However the single largest factor in assessing a home is the recent selling prices of nearby real estate.

​