The property value of single-family homes has jumped by nearly 30% in three years in the capital. Quebec City promises that it will not make a cent from the explosion in values, even if many owners will pay out.
The property assessment role for the Quebec City agglomeration for 2025, 2026 and 2027 released Thursday shows that buildings in the capital, all categories combined, have increased in value by 23.5%. The changes vary greatly for hotels (+38.1%) and offices (-7.6%).
The City announced that it intends to neutralize this increase in values by adjusting the tax rate. In short, an owner whose property has increased in value by exactly 23.5%, which is the average, will not pay a cent more because of the new role. Some will even pay less, such as owners of office buildings. But owners of single-family homes (+29.9% on average) will generally see their tax bill increase because of the new role.
“We could have raised 216 million with the increase in the role. But we decided not to go there,” said Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand, repeating that the operation is being carried out at zero cost to the City.
Mayor Marchand also committed to limiting property tax increases to below inflation, or less than 3.3%, next December. “These are difficult choices, but it’s the choice we’re making, because we know that citizens are in a difficult financial situation,” said the mayor. “Yes, we’re increasing taxes, but less than other cities in Canada and Quebec.”
Still, single-family homeowners who saw their property increase by 30% in property value will sometimes have to pay hundreds of dollars more in taxes in 2024, by combining the effect of the role and the rate increase. It was a question of fairness, explained the mayor, since their property appreciated more than the average.
Mr. Marchand also insisted that the Quebec City real estate market remained attractive. “We are probably the best market in Canada in the big cities to buy a house. For a young family, this is where the cost is lowest,” Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand insisted at a press conference.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Quebec Mayor Bruno Marchand
“Quebec City remains the most affordable city among several large Canadian cities for housing, both as an owner and as a tenant. The comparison with Montreal, Halifax, Calgary or Toronto… It’s not comparable. We’re talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars of difference for a house.”
According to the most recent figures from the Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers of Quebec, the average price of a single-family home in Quebec City was $439,000 in the second quarter of 2024, compared to $674,000 in Montreal, $534,000 in Sherbrooke and $362,000 in Trois-Rivières.
Check the value of the properties of the new assessment