Residential property assessments
Residential property assessments includes the assessment of single residential and residential condominium properties for the purpose of distributing fair and equitable taxation. The estimated value Assessment places on your property comes from the measurement, analysis and interpretation of the real estate market on the valuation date - July 01, the year prior to taxation.
We use a method called mass appraisal to calculate market value for residential properties. The mass appraisal technique values many properties as of July 01 of the previous year, using standardized methods and common data and allowing for statistical testing. When we prepare residential assessments, we typically look at all similar properties within a similar area that are sold during the same timeframe. When properties are sold, there is a range of sale prices. Assessed values are based on these prices. This is called the sales comparison approach to valuation. The mass appraisal process produces assessments that are accurate in comparison to the market value standard and uniform in comparison to similar properties.
Factors that affect market value include:
- property location (including proximity to green spaces, community services, access, views)
- total finished floor area of a home
- lot size
- basement or lower level of home development (finished floor, walls and ceiling)
- quality of home
- age of building
- existence and type of garage
- traffic influences and
- in the case of income producing properties, the income generated by that property
Assessment annually assesses approximately 419,500 single residential and residential condominium properties using a market value standard. The value of single residential and residential condominium combined is $155.5 billion. The median assessment for 2012 is:
- Single residential: 400,000
- Residential condominium: 250,000
Your property assessment is based on The City of Calgary's estimate of the market value of your property on July 01, 2011 and characteristics and physical condition on Dec. 31, 2011.
Market value - legislated standard
Alberta's Municipal Government Act requires that municipal taxes be levied in proportion to the market value of real estate.
Market value is the most probable price that a property would sell for on the open market on a given date.
Annual assessments – a fair process
When a property is assessed every year, fluctuations in property taxes are minimized due to the more frequent reassessment process. Through the annual reassessment process, taxation responsibility is re-distributed from area to area, based on the extent to which values change relative to one another within the city.
Access more information on how condominium properties are assessed 
2012 Single Condo property assessment.
