The annual BC Assessment numbers are in, and the data shows a staggering growth in real estate values across the province.

The total assessments in Greater Vancouver grew from $546.7 billion in 2015 to $636.2 billion in 2016, a 16% growth in 12 months. A sample of East Vancouver single-family homes saw the greatest growth at a 28% increase in value, outpacing the pricey West Side neighbourhoods which still made a strong leap at 23%.

SEE ALSO: Top 25 most expensive homes in Greater Vancouver

Other neighbourhoods where sample assessment values grew over 20% included the Hamilton area in North Vancouver, the West Vancouver waterfront, Garibaldi Highlands in Squamish, Capitol Hill and Buckingham in Burnaby, and Westwood Plateau in Coquitlam.

“The 2016 assessments are indicating significant increases from 2015,” says Assessor Jason Grant. “Increases of 15-25 per cent will be typical for single-family homes in Vancouver, North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Burnaby, Tri-Cities, New Westminster and Squamish. Single-family market movement in Whistler, Pemberton and the Sunshine Coast is less dramatic, with typical increases in the zero to 15 per cent range. Typical strata residential increases throughout the region will be in the five to 10 per cent range.”

BC Assessment says owners of more than 500,000 homes in Greater Vancouver will be receiving their property assessments for 2016 in the mail this week. The numbers reflected in the assessments show market value as of July 1, 2015.

SEE ALSO: 26,000 sq. ft. West Vancouver monster home is too big, residents say

“Property owners can find detailed property information on our website including answers to many assessment-related questions, but those who feel that their property assessment does not reflect market value as of July 1, 2015 or see incorrect information on their notice, should contact BC Assessment as indicated on their notice as soon as possible in January,” says Grant.

Assessment values provide data to determine how much property tax owners must pay each year. Those who experience a larger increase in their property values will be required to pay more tax in 2016.

The total number of homes on the BC Assessment list this year reached 1,996,112 and were valued at $1.34 trillion, an increase of 11.1% from 2015.

Image: BC Assessment

Vancouver’s Mayor has had it with the city’s growing real estate problem.

In the wake of BC Assessment’s 2016 property value data release, Gregor Robertson is calling for two new taxes to curb the “runaway price growth”.

City Hall watchdogs will note that Robertson has his hands tied when it comes to implementing any taxes on property ownership, which is only something that can be done at the provincial or federal level, but that hasn’t stopped him from pleading with the higher-ups for action.

“Far too many families on modest incomes cannot afford to live in our city or even in this region, which has enormous consequences for Vancouver’s economy and quality of life,” Robertson wrote in a statement issued Tuesday.

“This week’s BC Assessment numbers only underscore the urgency of a combination of reasonable and responsible actions that must be taken by the BC and Federal governments.”

SEE ALSO: Top 25 most expensive homes in Greater Vancouver

The Mayor informally proposed a speculation tax that would help to slow down the practice of flipping homes, which he says treats housing like a commodity and intensifies the price escalation. He also suggested a luxury housing tax to ensure “the very weathiest buyers or investors pay an added price.” No values on what these taxes may be or who specifically they might target were noted.

He added that income from these taxes could go toward building affordable housing for the low- and middle-income earners.

While proposing the two taxes, Robertson also called for better tracking of data on international investment and absentee ownership, something both the Federal and Provincial governments have refused to look into.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently told Global News in a Christmas Day interviewbroadcast that he is wary about taking action against foreign ownership as it may “devalue the equity of what a lot of people have in their homes right now.”

“You have to be very, very cautious about restricting foreign investment in our country at a time where we know we need foreign investment in businesses and resource development,” said Trudeau.

B.C. Premier Christy Clark has previously echoed these concerns as her excuse against collecting data on the issue.

A property tax deferral program is the latest way Vancouver homeowners are taking advantage of their high-value homes to make a small fortune.

The B.C. program allows residents aged 55 and older, widows, and people with disabilities to defer paying their property taxes until the sale of their home, while only paying a 0.85% interest rate. When implemented in the 1970s, it suited both the common retiring age and the stagnant real estate market at the time, but is now being taken advantage of by wealthy homeowners.

The purpose of the program is a sound one, says NDP MLA David Eby, a critic of the B.C. Liberal’s affordable housing legislation. It is supposed to ensure that seniors and others on fixed incomes aren’t forced out of their homes due to property tax increases when their home value grows. But, the program was designed in the 1970s for the realities of the 1970s real estate market, which is very different than it is now in 2016, adds Eby.

There are over $130 million in deferred property taxes each year, income for the various districts and municipalities that could be used to build roads, fund school boards, maintain parks, and pay local police and fire authorities. While many use the program responsibly – half of B.C. seniors live on $24,000 per year or less and more than 50,000 seniors are living on $20,000 or less, according to Seniors Advocate B.C. – changes in the common age of retirement means many over 55 are still making generous incomes.

According to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Commission, adults aged 55 to 64 made the highest average personal income of all age categories in 2011. More than half of this group own their homes mortgage-free, and there’s no shortage of them in Canada: what are called “pre-seniors” make up 13.1% of the country’s total population.

With the aging population – the number of people over age 55 by 2038 are projected to equal the populations of Ontario, Alberta, and Saskatchewan combined – the amount of money lost each year due to the property tax deferral program will only continue to grow.

While Eby says there are flaws with the program itself, most notably that it is not at all based on proven financial need, he blames the province’s inaction toward affordable housing as the reason why the program is being taken advantage of.

SEE ALSO: Gregor Robertson pleads for new taxes to curb unaffordable housing market

“Like the shortage of rental housing, like the unaffordability of housing, and the increase of homelessness, the province needs to start fixing the programs from the 1970s to fit with 2016,” he told Vancity Buzz.

“When you look at the action the government has taken to address out of control housing prices, two days ago they gave a break on property taxes to people who were buying $1.2 million homes. And this program, they provide less than 1% interest-rate loans to people who could potentially be earning millions of dollars a year so they don’t have to pay their property taxes. If student loans were at this property tax deferral rate, they’d be in a much better position financially. But students aren’t the priority.”

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance says there are currently 38,000 homeowners using the property tax deferral program and the average amount of deferred taxes per household is $3,000 a year.

In one scenario, a 60-year-old homeowner in North Vancouver might pay $8,000 a year in property tax on a standard $1.6 million house. If that house continues to rise in price by $200,000 a year for the next 15 years, by the time the homeowner wants to move at age 75, their house would be worth $4.6 million. Assuming their tax rate hasn’t changed, they would have deferred $248,000 in property tax over the years – money which they may have chosen to invest for profit. They would have only paid just over $1,900 in interest.

David Eby says the program is clearly subsidizing people who don’t deserve it or need it. “It just shows where [the Provincial Government’s] concerns are with housing affordability,” he adds.