New rating valuations for Horowhenua
Horowheuna District Council property owners will soon receive a Notice of Rating Valuation in the post with an updated rating value for their property.
The new rating valuations have been prepared for 18,729 properties on behalf of the Horowheuna District Council by Quotable Value (QV). Their careful analysis shows the total rateable value for the District is now $15.1 billion, with the land value of those properties now valued at $8.7 billion.
On average, the value of residential housing has increased by 53% since 2019 with the average house value now sitting at $637,000. The corresponding average land value has also increased by 94% to a new average of $337,000.
QV Property Consultant and Lead Valuer Jason Hockly commented: “Horowhenua hasn’t been immune to the significant value growth we’ve seen nationwide in recent years, which was primarily driven by record low interest rates. Though that growth has fallen significantly this year, values are still well above where they were at the previous rating valuation in 2019.”
Meanwhile, the local commercial and industrial sectors have had comparatively moderate increases across the district. Commercial property values increased by 36% on average, and property values in the industrial sector have increased by 86% since the district’s last rating valuation. Commercial and industrial land values have also increased by 66% and 186% respectively.
Since 2019, the average capital value of an improved lifestyle property has increased by 67% to $1,000, 000, while the corresponding land value for a lifestyle property increased by 87% to $576 000.
Mr Hockly said the strength of the lifestyle market typically aligned with high-end residential properties. “The rural sector performed strongly throughout the district with increases upward of 25%, compared to the already high valued Opiki soils, which increased 10% beyond the 2019 values,” he added.
What are rating valuations?
Rating valuations are usually carried out on all New Zealand properties every three years to help local councils set rates for the following three-year period. They reflect the likely selling price of a property at the effective revaluation date, which was 1 Aug 2022, and do not include chattels.
It is helpful to remember that any changes in the market since that time will not be included in the new rating valuations. Often this means that a sale price achieved in the market today will be different to the new rating valuation set at 1 August 2022.
The updated rating valuations are independently audited by the Office of the Valuer General and need to meet rigorous quality standards before the new rating valuations are certified. They are not intended to be used as market valuations for raising finance with banks or as insurance valuations.
An increase in your rating valuation may not mean you pay more in rates. Any rates increase is determined by your rating valuation increase compared with the average increase across the Horowhenua District. It doesn’t affect the amount of money councils collects from rates, either – it merely helps them work out everyone’s share of rates.
New rating values will soon be posted to property owners. If owners do not agree with their rating valuation, they have a right to object through the objection process before 3 February 2023. The new values will be used by Horowhenua District Council to determine ratings from 1 July 2023.
Find out more about the rating revaluation and objection process.
