Staff at the local BC Assessment office will likely be patting themselves on the back for their ability to accurately assess home values this year in the Tri-Cities.

According to BC Assessment, of the 68,000 residential and strata residential properties in the three municipalities, just 628 property owners have decided to appeal their 2013 assessment.

That works out to just 0.91 per cent of all the residential properties in the Tri-Cities.

Of the 5,828 non-residential properties in the Tri-Cities, 299 owners, or 5.1 per cent have chosen to appeal the 2013 assessment.

The combined total of assessment appeals works out to 1.2 per cent. Those numbers are consistent with the rest of the North Fraser Region, where 1.1 per cent of all properties filed an appeal.

Deputy assessor Zina Weston suggested the minimal amount of appeals could be related in part to the information the agency provides to homeowners through its website.

"I think it speaks well for our process and certainly internationally and nationally we stand as a very efficient assessment organization," she said.

Homeowners had until the end of January to file an appeal.

Weston explained the first round of appeals has started and will continue until mid-March.

A government appointed panel is in place to hear arguments at a hearing where an oral decision is rendered, with a written decision to follow by the end of the month.

If homeowners still aren't satisfied, they can file another appeal to a different appeal board that sits year-round.

The deadline to file a second appeal is April 30.

Weston noted most residential cases are resolved in the first round of appeals.

Most single-family homeowners in the Tri-Cities saw a modest change in the value of their homes in 2013, from a five-per-cent decrease to a 10per-cent increase, while most strata residential properties changed in the range of a 10per-cent drop to a 10-per-cent increase.

The average commercial property value increased between zero and 20 per cent, but in Burquitlam and the North Road area, as well as along Murray Street in Port Moody, those increases are even larger - between 20 and 30 per cent.

In all, there is $30-billion worth of property in Coquitlam on the assessment rolls, $10.9 billion in Port Coquitlam and another $7.7 billion in Port Moody.

jdeutsch@thenownews.com