Chip Wilson Wins $18M Off His Property Assessment

The BC Property Assessment Appeal Board ruled in favour of Lululemon founder Chip Wilson on May 28, ordering BC Assessment to lower the 2025 value of his Point Grey Road waterfront mansion from $82.7 million to $64.4 million, an $18.3 million cut. The board accepted Wilson's argument that "price point sensitivity" at the extreme high end of the market meant the home was worth meaningfully less than BC Assessment claimed. The decision drops Wilson's mansion from the title of "most expensive home in BC," handing it to a Belmont Avenue property assessed at $69.8 million. His 2026 property tax bill: roughly $528,500.

West Van Home Resells for $1.1M Less Than Its 2024 Price

A custom-built Dundarave home on Kings Avenue sold earlier this month for $4.9 million, $1.1 million less than its $6.01 million sale price in June 2024. The owner had tried for over a year to sell at $5,998,000, then $5,498,000, before finally accepting $4.9 million (below the most recent $5,388,000 ask). Even more telling: the home was assessed at $5,016,000, just above the final sale price. Five bedrooms, five bathrooms, 5,401 sqft on "one of the area's most coveted streets."

Canada Slips Into Technical Recession — Weak Housing Cited as a Drag

Statistics Canada reported on May 29 that Q1 2026 GDP fell 0.1% on an annualized basis, following a revised 1% decline in Q4 2025. Two consecutive quarters of contraction meets the textbook definition of a technical recession. Weak resale activity in the housing market was explicitly named as one of the drags on Q1 GDP, alongside falling business capital investment (its fifth straight quarterly decline) and tariff-related uncertainty. BMO chief economist Doug Porter said the figures should "throw a wet blanket" over any talk of Bank of Canada rate hikes, because "the economy is in no condition to deal with higher rates."