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“What you’re seeing now is a bit of a levelling off,” he said. “Considering a lot of the negative news that’s out there within the Alberta economy, property owners should be fairly happy … values still remain fairly strong.”

Of the more than 400,000 properties assessed, multi-home residences were hit with the greatest decrease in property value. Apartment buildings dipped 2.6 per cent while condos and townhomes sunk 4.5 per cent. This drop can be attributed to the abundance of condos that have been built in the past few years and the large supply still available, Risling said.

The city did see an overall assessment increase of 0.6 per cent on commercial and industrial properties.

Property tax implications

Property assessment values are used by the city to calculate the municipal property taxes homeowners will pay, taking into account the 2.6 per cent tax increase in the approved city budget. This results in an increase of about $76 per year, but is dependent on the changes in property value.

If a property’s assessed value is similar to the average 1.7 per cent dip, owners will see a tax increase around 2.6 per cent. But properties that went up in value will face a larger tax increase. Where values dropped, taxes should be lower and perhaps not even increase.

The final tax rate will be set in May following final budget approval and the inclusion of the province’s education tax.

Changing communities

Several neighbourhoods fluctuated well away from the city average, both increasing and decreasing in value. The five Edmonton communities with the largest increase lie on the south side of the city. Lansdowne topped the list with a 7.5 per cent increase. On the other end of the scale, the developing northwest community of Kinglet Gardens had the most significant value decrease of 8.1 per cent.