Each year, your municipality issues property tax assessment notices. The property ‘value’ is then multiplied by a Mill Rate (set by the City) in order to calculate the amount of tax owing. It’s important to note that an assessment for tax purposes is not necessarily indicative of actual value…

However, I found it particularly interesting to note that, this year, in the City of Edmonton, a certain segment of the townhouse market is now valued well below replacement cost — assuming that these fully-functioning and lovely family homes are floating in midair! What I’m saying is that, dollars per square foot, it would be impossible to replace (rebuild) these homes even if the land they are sitting on were completely free.

Real estate markets are local; in fact, they’re hyper-local. It’s not helpful to read national statistics, or even provincial statistics and try to apply them to your specific market. You must do local research on the asset type you are exploring. If you find an under-valued or neglected segment of the market, that may be a big sign saying: BUYING OPPORTUNITY!