AMHERST - Appeals of property assessments in Cumberland County are down considerably from this time last year.
Figures released by the Property Valuation Services Corporation on Thursday indicate appeals are down by 23 per cent in Cumberland Couny compared to 2009.
"We have seen a fairly significant drop across the province and the same is true in Cumberland County," corporation spokeperson Joe McEvoy said.
"Last year's numbers were related to the economy. A number of people thought because the economy was bad that the real estate market would be bad, too."
Provincially, the corporation handled about 10,000 appeals but had about 14,000 last year. Appeals are back to normal levels this year.
In Cumberland, Springhill had the biggest drop in appeals, going from 106 last year to just 27 this year.
In Amherst, the number of appeals dropped by 39 per cent to 86, while there were 438 appeals in the Municipality of Cumberland. Oxford also saw a decrease in the number of appeals with 16 launched this year for a drop of 53 per cent.
Parrsboro was the only town in the county to see an increase in appeals, but it was only by one per cent with 34 appeals launched.
The 21-day appeal period ended Feb. 8.
Last month, the corporation announced property assessments are continuing to rise in Cumberland, but the numbers are slowing. Residential assessments are up 5.1 per cent while commercial assessments are up by 3.9 per cent.
dcole@amherstdaily.com
