Moncton, Dieppe and Riverview municipal councils are preparing their 2009 budgets. The Province provides estimates of the 2009 assessment base. The councils will then divide the budget figure by the assessment base to arrive at the property tax mil rate.

Usually the assessment base increases each year due to new construction added to the housing inventory plus any increase in the value of existing homes.

The municipalities have a pretty good idea of the amount of increase in the assessment base attributed to new construction because the municipalities issue the building permits in their respective jurisdictions.

So what increase can be expected in the value of existing homes this year? My research indicates that the average sale price of existing residential  properties has actually decreased for 2008 in Dieppe and Riverview. Moncton however is showing a modest 3.4% increase in the average sale price over 2007. Unit sales are also lower than last year, though Moncton has held its own.

Service New Brunswick  determines assessed values. These numbers does not mean that any or all residential assessments will actually go down next year in Dieppe and Riverview. But, based on the MLS® sale data, there is definitely a trend that surely will have an effect.

My table below includes only existing (not new construction) residential properties located in the City of Moncton, the City of Dieppe and the Town of Riverview. The period covered is January to the end of October.