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As a City of Vancouver operation to repair a massive aquifer flood in an affluent residential area drags on, neighbours are worried that their multimillion-dollar home values have been reduced.

The accident occurred in September 2015 when Feng Lin Liu, owner of 7084 Beechwood Avenue, was building a mansion on his $3-million vacant lot. Inexperienced drillers pierced the aquifer, sparking an evacuation order and fears that a sinkhole could swallow about 12 nearby homes.

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An operation to stem the flood and stabilize land that is under immense pressure due to the aquifer breach may be completed by midsummer, the city says, at a cost of about $10 million. Liu is responsible for the damage according to the city.

A land document analysis by Postmedia News for properties near 7084 Beechwood, shows that their assessment values have significantly lagged behind properties on surrounding blocks. The value of 7084 Beechwood dropped from $3 million in 2016 to $2 million in the 2017 assessment. Several homes immediately surrounding 7084 Beechwood increased in value by about 6 per cent in 2017, according to B.C. Assessment, while assessed values elsewhere in Vancouver rose by over 25 per cent. For example, a home one block away on the 6000-block Arbutus Street, increased from $3.6 million in 2016 to an assessed value of $4.9 million in 2017. And a property one block north, on the 6000-block Beechwood, increased from $2.4 million in 2016 to $3.27 million in 2017.