There’s a lot of buzz in the market right now about 2015 assessed values, particularly for residential which seem to be all over the map with respect to increases/decreases from 2014.

For most Vancouver commercial properties over the past decade, market values have been consistently higher than assessment values. There are multiple reasons for this phenomenon, the most obvious of which has been a market that has seen steady capital appreciation rates that continue ahead of the assessors.  Here’s a quick look at all of the office buildings that sold in Metro Vancouver in 2014 for over $2,000,000:

Note that in almost all cases, purchase prices fall in a range of 10-40% above assessed value, and only in rare cases do they fall below assessed values. (If you’re wondering why  411 Dunsmuir Street wasn’t included, it was fully renovated and sat vacant for over a year before being fully leased and sold earlier this year and traded for over 3 times assessed value.

1133 Barclay Street has been sold by Gordon Nelson Properties for $9,225,000 to a local investor. The purchase price represents a cap rate of 4.5% and a price per unit of approx. $300,000. The building was fully renovated including new stainless steel appliances, dishwashers, granite countertops, porcelain tiling and refinished floors. The building has an ideal location, but does not fall within the West End Plan’s potential rezoning area.

The building had been listed for sale for $9,898,000, and was sold by Matt Saunders and Steve Fame of Colliers in approx. 1 month.