New rating valuations for Selwyn District
Selwyn District 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 31,250 properties on behalf of the Selwyn District Council by Quotable Value (QV). They show the total rateable value for the District is now $35.2 billion, with the land value of those properties now valued at $20.6 billion.
On average, the value of residential housing has increased by 40.5% since 2018 with the average house value now sitting at $804,000, while the corresponding average land value has increased by 102% for an average of $405,000.
QV Senior Consultant Brendon McCurley commented: “We have seen significant growth in the residential sector since 2018 which, like much of the rest of the country, has been fuelled by record low interest rates, a shortage of listings and readily available land, as well as an influx of investment from outside of the district — including investors from the North Island.”
The commercial and industrial sectors have had moderate increases across the district. Commercial property values increased by 33% and property values in the industrial sector have increased by 32% since the last rating valuation in 2018. Commercial and industrial land values have increased by 45% and 40% respectively.
“Value growth was driven by both higher rentals than 2018 levels as well firming of investment yields,” Mr McCurley added.
Since 2018, the average capital value of an improved lifestyle property has also increased by 35% to $1,173,000, while the corresponding land value for a lifestyle property increased by 52% to $654,000.
Mr McCurley said the rural sector had shown signs of consistent growth – with dairy property land values having increased by 8.8% and pastoral property land values by 22.3% since the last revaluation in the district. “Low interest rates and poor returns from some alternative investments options has seen new money invested into the rural property sector. While the loosening of lending restrictions during 2021 after a period of debt consolidation within the rural property sector has also enabled well established and proven operators to expand,” he said.
Residential housing value changes since 2018 revaluation levels:
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 September 2021, and do not include chattels.
The Selwyn District Council will use the new values as the base for setting rates from 1 July 2022.
It is helpful to remember the effective rating revaluation date has passed, and any changes in the market since then will not be included in the new rating valuations. This means in many cases a sale price achieved in the market today may be different to the new rating valuation set as at 1 September 2021, especially in a fast-moving market as we have currently.
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.
New rating values will be posted to property owners after 9 February 2022. If owners do not agree with their rating valuation, they have a right to object through the objection process before 17 March 2022.
Find out more about the rating revaluation and objection process.