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An online property estimate can be a useful starting point. Enter an address, review the result and begin thinking about what a property might sell for. For an owner considering a move or reviewing their finances, that convenience has obvious appeal. It's quick and it's free. The more consequential the decision, however, the more important the next question becomes: what evidence supports the number? For property owners, lenders, lawyers and advisers, a valuation needs to ad

Reflections on BC's economic future, infrastructure development, and the complexities of land acquisition following the 2026 BC Expropriation Association Conference. British Columbia has some extraordinary economic advantages. Abundant natural resources, a desirable natural environment, and a strategic location on the Pacific provide significant opportunities for investment, development, and long-term economic growth. But realizing that potential requires infrastructure, inve

A road widening takes a strip of commercial frontage. A utility corridor introduces new restrictions across a property. An infrastructure project changes access to a development site. The area affected may be straightforward to measure. Its impact on property value can be considerably more complex. At Jackson & Associates Ltd., expropriation appraisal is part of the work we undertake for clients at the intersection of real estate valuation and law. Our role is to provide inde

How big a house fits our idea of what a single-family detached house should be? And how much land should come with that home? Does it feel like as the years pass by, the lot sizes are shrinking and house sizes are growing? That feeling is backed up with facts. Our office is located in the City of Courtenay on Vancouver Island, so we did some research with help from datasets provided by the Landcor Data Corporation. In Courtenay, the relationship between lot size and house s

Four communities. Four very different properties. Recently, our team has been working across Vancouver Island and the surrounding Islands on a diverse group of appraisal and depreciation report assignments: Quadra Island: a rural bare land strata development Ucluelet: a mixed-use commercial and residential development Courtenay: a four-storey low-rise apartment building Victoria: a ten-storey mixed-use development At first glance, these properties have very little in common.

As British Columbians prepare to vote in the October 17 municipal elections, property taxes will inevitably become a campaign issue. Municipal candidates may promise to “hold the line,” “reduce the tax burden” or even lower taxes. Before accepting those promises, taxpayers should understand how municipal property taxes are actually calculated, and what a lower tax increase could mean for local services, infrastructure and municipal finances. An illustrative eight-community co

We had the pleasure of attending a Comox Valley Chamber of Commerce event this week out at Smith Lake Farm in Merville. The panel topic was "THE BLUE ECONOMY" and discussion focused around our local (world famous) shellfish industry and our emerging seaweed industry. Afterwards, someone asked me if we appraise oyster tenures as they are occasionally listed for sale on MLS. How would I even do this? When most people think about a real estate appraisal, they picture a house, c

We analyzed 690 acreage sales from across the VIREB market area to find out why more land does not mean proportionately more value. If a house on one acre is worth $1 million, is the same house on two acres worth $2 million? Of course not. But is the additional acre worth $25,000? $100,000? $250,000? And what happens when we move from two acres to five—or from five acres to ten? To investigate, Jackson & Associates analyzed: 369 improved single-family acreage sales in the Com

For this week’s Micro Market Monday, we are looking at the single-family residential market in Willow Point, one of Campbell River’s largest and most active residential neighbourhoods. The latest VIREB MLS® data provide a useful picture of how the market has changed since 2021. The dataset includes 975 Willow Point SFD sales dating back to January 2021, together with 66 active listings and 16 pending sales in the current market. The conclusion is not that Willow Point is weak

For many strata corporations in British Columbia, a depreciation report may cost approximately $3,000 to $10,000. Larger, multi-building or more complex developments can cost $10,000 to $30,000 or more. Depreciation Report Costs in British Columbia But the number of strata lots alone does not determine the cost. A 40-unit townhouse development with relatively simple common property may require less analysis than a 30-unit apartment building containing an elevator, underground

Earlier this year, a private island on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast sold for $13 million. Turnagain Island, located in Secret Cove near Halfmoon Bay, comprises more than 93 acres and had most recently been offered at $14.749 million. But the transaction involved considerably more than a large parcel of waterfront land. The property includes two substantial residences totalling approximately 6,061 square feet, municipal water, submarine power service, an irrigation reser

Triple-net leases are common throughout British Columbia’s commercial real estate market. Under a typical triple-net (or “NNN" lease), the tenant pays a base rent to the landlord and is also responsible for its proportionate share of the property’s operating costs. These additional costs commonly include property taxes, building insurance, maintenance and other expenses. The concept seems reasonable: if a business occupies 30% of a commercial building, it pays approximately

2026 Market Shows Softer Pricing but Faster Decisions Hope everyone had a happy BC Day Long Weekend! We are back (on a Tuesday) with a 'Micro Market Analysis' for the City of Powell River. Each week we have appraisers from our office make the trip across the Salish Sea from Comox to Powell River. We know this market. The City of Powell River single-family dwelling market remains active, but buyers are clearly price-sensitive. Jackson & Associates reviewed 796 completed ML

This week, members of our team were in Gold River completing a depreciation report for a self-managed 22-unit apartment-style strata corporation. While the assignment focused on one property, it reinforced an important lesson that applies to strata corporations throughout British Columbia. One of the most significant influences on future replacement costs is often not the building itself. It is the community in which the building is located. Depreciation Report - Gold River C

Why Acreage, Waterfront and Zoning Matter in These Complex Rural Market Areas Merville and Black Creek are often grouped together as one Vancouver Island Real Estate Board market sub area. From an analytical perspective, however, this is certainly not one uniform real estate market. Properties range from modest homes on smaller rural lots to agricultural acreages, manufactured homes, vacant land, riverfront properties, lakefront homes and high-value oceanfront estates. Zoning

Since approximately January 1, 2022, property owners, developers, contractors and appraisers across Vancouver Island have experienced a substantial increase in the cost of constructing buildings and completing site improvements. While the most dramatic period of construction-cost inflation may have passed, prices have generally not returned to their previous levels. Instead, the market appears to have established a materially higher cost baseline. This affects much more than

Courtenay East remains one of the Comox Valley’s most active and varied detached-housing markets. The current VIREB dataset contains 507 closed single-family sales since January 1, 2022, together with 28 pending transactions and 32 active listings. Annual sales volume over the past 4 years has been relatively consistent. There were 122 sales in 2022, 104 in 2023, 123 in 2024 and 112 in 2025. For 2026 year to date, the dataset records 74 transactions: 46 closed and 28 pending.

Summer on the coast is here and vacation plans for many include a trip to one of BC's spectacular Gulf Islands. This week, we have a look at the micro-markets on three islands within the Central Gulf Island Region: Denman Island, Hornby Island, and Savary Island. A search of BC Assessment data provided by the Landcor Data Corporation indicates that Denman Island has 845 assessed residential property folios, Hornby Island has 1,116, and Savary Island, despite being the smalle

July 1 marks the effective valuation date for the next BC Assessment cycle, while July 2 was property tax deadline across much of British Columbia. That timing makes this an ideal moment to ask two important questions: What does $1,000,000 buy in today’s VIREB residential market? How close are 2026 Assessment Roll values to actual market sales? At Jackson & Associates, we reviewed 27 single-family transactions from across the VIREB region that sold (or are pending 'unconditio

Summer is here and with kids now ending school, many of us are thinking about some summer downtime and perhaps a trip to the beach. Oceanfront real estate on Vancouver Island continues to command a premium across Vancouver Island, but recent VIREB sales data shows a market that is becoming increasingly selective. Reviewing all oceanfront MLS sales and active listings across the VIREB market area (north of the Malahat) since January 1, 2024 (excluding Gulf Islands sub-area