December 2025 was a disaster from a sales perspective — only 11 sales for the entire month through the entire Columbia Valley. However, year-to-date totals tell a different story: 521 sales, which is up 6.98% from the 487 total sales in 2024.
To put this December's poor performance in perspective, December 2021 was 34 sales, 2022 was 18 sales and last year was 20 sales. December 2023 sales were similar with only 12. To find a number as lower than 11, you have to go way back to 2011 (10 sales), and 2012 (9 sales).
But here's the key difference: those years, the total volume for sales was WAY lower. It was a very depressed market back then. For example, back in 2011, the total sales for the year were only 183, so December represented 5.46% of the annual sales.
In contrast, this December, the 11 sales represent only 2.11% of the annual sales!While December was not a good month for sellers, one month does not tell the story of a market.
The "new" BC Assessment numbers are out. They get released each January 1st. But are they really "new"?
Here's what you need to know: BC Assessment looks at sales and data from July 1st, 2024, to July 1st, 2025, and then they do a lot of market and square foot averaging for houses and land.
What BC Assessment does not do:
- They don't go inside your house; they have no idea about internal condition
- They often don't know about basement finishing, renos, or minor additions
- They don't really adjust for views, lake access, or unique features
Furthermore, on January 1st, they release their numbers on what they think your property was worth (give or take) on July 1st, 2025. So the "newest" numbers are already six months old.
The old assessment numbers — the ones that some people were looking at in December — those came from data from July 1st, 2023, to July 1st, 2024. Those numbers are ancient!
With this context in mind, let's look at some averages (technically medians) for the new BC Assessment numbers by community and property type:
- Invermere: single family 4.8% increase, 4.4% for strata
- Invermere rural: single family 6.9% increase, 2.1% for strata
- Radium: single family 6.5% increase, 2.5% for strata
My thoughts on the Assessment numbers:
- Generally, the assessment numbers seem fair, not because single family homes have necessarily gone up that much in the last year, but because the old numbers were not accurate (they were generally pretty low). So this is, in a sense, a catchup. I think the new assessments are now pushing very close in most cases to actual market value
- However, there are pockets and areas where BC Assessment is wrong. For example, the assessed values in Fairmont for single family homes seem way too high compared to market value
Here's some real data to support this: when I analyzed actual sales in 2025 compared to Assessment values for all single family homes in Invermere & Invermere rural, the median selling price was 109.3% of the assessed value.
I really believe that pricing is pretty flat year to year, perhaps a modest 2% or 3% increase for some single family homes. Looking ahead, what I think we will see for 2026 is that the median selling price compared to assessed value is going to be a lot closer to being equal.
To say this another way, if your Assessed value went up 6% this year, this not necessarily mean your house is actually worth 6% more than it was last year.
Of course, medians and averages don't consider unique situations.
One area that is very confusing to people is how assessed value relates to tax increases. If your single family assessment went up 6.5% in value in Radium, this does not mean that your taxes will increase by 6.5%. Because that increase with the average, the assessment has no impact your tax rate. Various local governments may still do tax rate increases. Your taxes are only impacted if your assessment increase is higher than the average. If your home went up 10% but the average is 6.5%, then you will see a bit of tax bump up in addition to any regular tax increases.
There are definitely going to be situations, especially if the home has deferred maintenance (very dated inside, needs a new roof), etc., where the new assessment numbers are going to be above actual market value. Do not assume that you can sell for the assessment value, especially if your home has had no updates or it has been long term rental for a long time.
Additionally, it isn't unreasonable to see these new Assessment numbers be 10% +/- market value depending on actual condition and even changes in the market since the numbers were crunched.
What do you do if your Assessment number is higher than you want it to be, but you wouldn't actually sell for that number? Stop whining and suck it up! You have nothing to complain about. If you wouldn't sell your property for the Assessment number, then the Assessment isn't high.
What if your property has an Assessment number that is out of whack by more than 10%?
First, if your Assessment is super low, I would suggest you do nothing. This means you will get taxed less, and it won't really impact your ability to sell the property in the future. Just ignore it and enjoy it!
However, if your Assessment value is 10% or more above market value — if the number they are suggesting is just too high (you would take the money and run in a second at that number), maybe you even tried selling before and couldn't hit their number — then reach out to BC Assessment (use this link: Appeals). Initially, start with a phone call; lots of times the assessor will have a conversation with you and make an adjustment that doesn't require a more complicated appeal board process. Nevertheless, sometimes it is necessary and worth doing the more formal process if the Assessment is really out of whack. Critical deadline: you need to formally submit an appeal by February 2nd.
So what's my take on the market for 2026?
Caution!
While there are some buyers out there, they are being very cautious. People are still nervous about the economy and world affairs, land claims and uncertainty over First Nations issues (a whole different post I'll try to do soon), interest rates, future pricing/values, and inventory/selection — all of these factors are holding people back.
As a result, I think that sellers need to be cautious too!
The absolute worst thing you can do is overprice your property. If you want to sell, price your property to sell. On the other hand, if you aren't sure about selling and want a premium, my advice is to wait. Right now is not the time to "test the market"; you will be shooting yourself in the foot with a lot of days on market and run the risk of having a bit of a stigma to your property and as it sits on the market too long- people wondering- ‘what is wrong with that place?’