Understanding how property is valued

Your property’s real property assessment value reflects its market value. Market value is the price that the property would likely sell for on the open real estate market on January 1 of the year preceding the year for which the assessment is made.  It is the most common method of property assessment used in North America today..

Assessments are based on market value because market value is transparent (real estate prices are publicly available), easy to understand and a fair and realistic measure of a property's value.

We have a team of assessors who review the property assessment value of more than 480,000 properties throughout New Brunswick each year..

Our assessors aren't actually determining market value; they are simply reflecting the values that have been established by buyers and sellers in local real estate markets across the province.

But how do the assessors determine these values?

Assessors look at a variety of factors when assessing your property, including its location, sale prices of homes or properties in your area, and any recent renovations or improvements made to your property.
 

When several properties in your neighborhood sell for more than their assessed value, this suggests a higher value for all properties in that neighborhood - even if no physical improvements have been made. We analyze these trends and use them to make adjustments to assessments to bring them in line with their new market value. View recent sales in your area.

Your house and your neighbor's house may look very similar, but factors such as finished basements, age and quality of the building, and type of garage could result in a different assessment for each property. Even two seemingly identical houses can have very different assessments if they are located in different parts of a city, in a different community, or subjected to measurably different market forces. (Imagine the market value of your house in downtown Saint John or in the Miramichi- two areas with very different real estate markets).
 

Properties in New Brunswick are protected from unexpected assessment spikes. Any increase greater than 10% will be phased in over time, making assessment growth much more stable and predictable. Properties that have sold in the previous year and all new construction and/or major improvements are excluded from this protection. Learn more in Understanding your notice.