Thousands of N.B. homeowners have successfully challenged their property assessments. Here's how
House prices have escalated rapidly, more than doubling in places, pushing up property assessments and taxes
Kim Hunter was stunned last year when the assessment on her Saint John duplex arrived and showed a $151,700 increase.
"It was absolutely shocking. I was floored," said Hunter of the 56 per cent change.
"I couldn't figure out where they actually got that huge increase."
Hunter is a professional realtor and immediately doubted her home could be sold for the amount Service New Brunswick had valued it. She prepared a response and filed for a review.
After several weeks, the assessment agency accepted there was a problem and lowered the increase on Hunter's home by $54,200.
In Saint John, at current tax rates, that reduction will eventually save her $800 on her residential property tax bill.
"The whole incident has just nailed it home for me that we are due — so due — for complete overhaul of of the property assessment system in New Brunswick," said Hunter.
House prices in New Brunswick have escalated rapidly in the last four years, more than doubling in many communities. That has been pushing up property assessments and property taxes that are based on those assessments.
Last month, Service New Brunswick mailed out new 2025 assessment notices to owners of more than 400,000 properties, who now have until Feb. 19 to accept the valuation as accurate or ask for a review.
Hunter said if homeowners doubt the assessment is accurate, they should not be shy about questioning it.
"I'm just one person, but my advice is to challenge it," she said.
Last year nearly 3,000 New Brunswick property owners, mostly homeowners like Hunter, successfully challenged the size of their property assessments, and there are lessons in their success for those considering whether or not to mount their own challenge this year.
Jerry Iwanus is a former assessor for Service New Brunswick who has written a book about the province's property tax system, Taxing New Brunswick.
Iwanus said the only way for homeowners to win an assessment reduction is to make a convincing case that their own property would not sell on the open market for the amount on their assessment notice.
He recommends focusing on that sole reason when asking for a review because, by law, Service New Brunswick cannot consider any other factor.
"People put all sorts of stuff in there, like, "my taxes are too high," and that is not a reason to challenge," said Iwanus.
"There's only one reason that you challenge your assessment and that is because the assessed value is higher than what you think the market value of your house is."
According to Iwanus there are two ways to make that case.
The first is for a property owner to show that recent house sales in their neighbourhood are at prices below the values used by Service New Brunswick in the neighbourhood.
Alternatively, property owners can try to show their own house has particular problems that would affect its sale price in a way that the assessment is not detecting.
Hunter made both arguments in her case.
She disputed that the real estate market in her part of the city would allow her to sell her home for the price Service New Brunswick put on it. She also noted that wood clapboard on the ocean-facing side of her home has deteriorated over the years and further eroded the sale value of her property.
"I was able to convince [SNB] that I was justified in receiving a significant decrease in value because of some maintenance and repairs that have to be done to my home," said Hunter.
"As a real estate agent, I was explaining to [SNB] to get market value, that I would have to do a number of maintenance repairs."
Homeowners are ultimately responsible for policing the values applied to their homes.
Provincial records show several successful assessment challenges last year were clustered in specific neighbourhoods but even when Service New Brunswick awards multiple reductions, it will not review other similar properties in those neighbourhoods for problems — unless owners ask.
On Moore Street, around the corner from Kim Hunter, houses suffered some of the largest assessment increases in New Brunswick in 2024. Four of the 14 properties eventually won reductions and two other properties eventually sold to buyers for less than their assessed values.
However, Iwanus said even if that might suggest other homes on Moore Street are overvalued, too, it is up to homeowners to ask for a review and make the case, no matter how obvious, that there is a problem.
"If you find that your neighbours have received a reduction in one particularly year, you may want to take a look at doing the same thing next year," said Iwanus.
"But you've still got to be able to prove it on its own merits."
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