Nicola Kelland - Council Valuations v Market sales

The new Council Valuations will be released to the public on the 10th November but the general suburb increases were released in the weekend via the New Zealand Herald. So how did your suburb fare, and what will this mean for sale prices in the Auckland Region over the coming months?

In most cases, the sale prices achieved have already been well above the 2011 CVs and the new CVs will go someway to aligning these figures. For example, Parnell has been selling at around 35% above CV, and the suburb median increase for new CVs is 31%.

Obviously, medians are just that, and individual properties will have higher or lower increases, reflecting any improvements etc that have been done to the property since the previous CV.

Interestingly, Waiheke Island’s median increase is only 8%, possibly a reflection of the quieter coastal market since the GFC, but in the past few months sales on Waiheke have increased dramatically especially at the high end of the market. Kellands have done a large number of those sales and on average those properties have been sold at a huge 54% above CV, so we suspect that already the new CV’s might be out of date, and not reflective of the market today in this location for highly desirable properties.  My prediction is the coastal market having a marked increase in activity this summer, based on the level of enquiry we are seeing before summer has even arrived.

So overall, I think the new CVs will be reflecting catch-up in values, but as usual, there will be anomalies. If you are thinking of selling and your new CV is not reflective of the potential sale price, you may well consider contesting its value. While it is only one tool in appraising the potential sale price of a property, purchasers do use the CV as a general indication on price.