Property assessments are up again in Nova Scotia, with homeowners on the north shore seeing the biggest jump.

About 580,000 assessment notices are going out to property owners this week.

Municipalities use assessments to determine how much money a property owner should pay in taxes. If assessments are up, taxes can go up too.

Provincially, residential property values are up 9.6 per cent from 2006 and commercial assessments increased by 6.2 per cent.

At 11 per cent, the value of residential assessments in Nova Scotia is highest on the north shore.

Terry Hartling, regional manager of the northern assessment office, said property values continue to go up, particularly with waterfront properties.

The south shore is next at 10.2 per cent, while the Halifax region is seeing an even 10 per cent jump over last year.

Property owners can appeal their assessment if they don't believe it reflects the market value of their properties as of Jan. 1, 2005.

They can also look up assessment information about their properties on a government website using their personal identification number and assessment account number.