Seller Tips

What's the Difference Between an Appraisal and an Assessment?

The Direct Answer

An appraisal tells you what your home is worth right now, done by a licensed appraiser looking at your specific property, usually to satisfy a lender or a buyer. An assessment is a value the city places on your home for tax purposes, and it's calculated differently, on a different date, for a different reason. The two numbers are allowed to disagree, and they usually do, which is exactly why sellers get thrown off when their tax assessment doesn't match what their home actually sells for.

Why the Two Numbers Almost Never Match

In Alberta, your property tax assessment is based on a guess and estimate of what your home would have sold for on July 1 of the previous year, using mass appraisal, a method that values large numbers of properties at once using shared data and statistical models rather than a detailed, individual walkthrough. An appraisal is the opposite approach: one appraiser, one property, an in-person or detailed evaluation, valued as of today or whatever date the appraisal is dated. Different date, different method, different number. Neither one is wrong, they're just answering different questions. The assessment isn't trying to capture market value in the moment at all, its actual purpose is fairness between properties: making sure similar homes pay similar tax amounts, so you aren't paying more than comparable homes elsewhere in the city, and your neighbour isn't paying less than they should either. It's an apples-to-apples comparison built for dividing up the tax bill, not a snapshot of what your home would fetch if you listed it today.

Why This Matters When You're Selling

Don't price your home off your assessment. It's not designed to reflect today's market, it's a snapshot from over a year ago that exists purely to divide up the tax bill fairly across every property in the city, which is part of why Edmonton's 2026 tax increase lands differently on every property, depending on how each one's assessed value moved. A buyer's lender will order an actual appraisal before closing, based on current market data and your home's real condition, and that's the number that determines whether financing goes through, not your city assessment.

What to Actually Use Instead

For pricing, a current comparative market analysis from your realtor, based on recent, genuinely comparable sales, is far more useful than either number. Your assessment can still be worth a glance, mainly to confirm the city has your home's details right (square footage, bedrooms, lot size), since errors there can affect your tax bill even if they don't affect your sale price.

Thinking About Selling in East YEG?

What Would It Take to Get Top Dollar for Your Home?

Between negotiation trends, price reductions, and how fast homes are actually moving right now, the numbers above only tell part of the story. I'll give you a straight answer on what your specific home is worth today, and what it would take to maximize your sale price in this market.

Frequently Asked Questions

Jason Beattie

REALTOR® | eXp Realty | BT Group

780-791-9633  |  Jason.Beattie@eXpRealty.com