Real estate prices might be cooling in some markets, but mega-mansions in Richmond's farmland still seem to be turning a tidy profit.
A 14,000-square-foot mansion on Finn Road sold in August for $13.5 million – almost $6 million higher than what it sold for just two years ago.
The seven-bedroom home with a swimming pool and tennis court, built in 2012, sold in September 2020 for $7.8 million, according to BC Assessment. (Click here for a video tour of the house.)
The property is in the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR), which is protected for farming by provincial law. However, for years, there was no house size limit on ALR properties, and mega-mansions proliferated on farms across Richmond.
While the Finn Road property sold for $13.5 million, its assessed value is only about $6.15 million, and city records show the owners pay about $25,000 in annual taxes.
The property itself, at 8731 Finn Rd., is assessed at just under $1.6 million, whereas the home is assessed at about $4.57 million.
In 2018, the province limited the size of homes in the ALR to about 5,300 square feet, but Richmond city council imposed a bylaw limiting homes within its municipal boundaries to about 4,300 square feet.
