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Westland District residential rating values climb 12.7%

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Westland District property owners will soon receive a 2020 Notice of Rating Valuation in the post with an updated rating value for their property.

The new rating valuations have been prepared for 7105 properties on behalf of the Westland District Council by Quotable Value (QV). They show the total rateable value for the district is now $3,251,744,000 with the land value of those properties now valued at $1,899,461,000.

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 2020, and do not include chattels.

On average, the value of residential housing has increased 12.7% since 2017 with the average house value now sitting at $277,000, while the corresponding average land value has increased by 8.7% to an average of $88,000.

QV valuer Jeremy Clayton commented: “Though wider economic conditions are uncertain due to Covid-19 and the potential for more ‘lockdowns’ in the future, the anticipated decline within Westland’s property market has yet to eventuate with steady sales activity and solid demand.

“Demand is high, interest rates are low, and there is limited stock available on the market – all factors driving demand in the local housing market, like much of the rest of the country.”

Meanwhile, commercial property values have decreased by 4.2%, and property values in the industrial sector have increased by 5.1% since the district’s last rating valuation in 2017. Commercial and industrial land values have also increased by 8.8% and 12.4% respectively.

“The Hokitika retail sector has benefited from strong support from locals and domestic travellers,” said Mr Clayton. “However, Covid-19 has had a detrimental impact, especially in the tourist towns of Franz Josef and Fox Glacier, due to border closures and no international tourists.”

Since 2017, the average capital value of an improved lifestyle property has increased by 15.8% to $475,000, while the corresponding land value for a lifestyle property increased by 11.5% to $159,000.

“The last three years have been tumultuous in the dairy sector across the West Coast, culminating in Westland Dairy being sold to the Chinese-owned Yili in mid-2019. The sale of the of the company has been seen as a positive for farmers and the wider community as the company invests in factory upgrades and offers competitive pay-outs and has paid out on shares.

Dairy makes up a significant part of the rural land within the district, values have softened in some areas but there is more positivity in the industry than recent years, while the lifestyle market remains buoyant.”

It is helpful to remember the effective rating revaluation date of 1 September 2020 has passed and any changes in the market since then will not be included in the new rating valuations. This means a sale price achieved in the market today will often be different to the new rating valuation set at that date.

Rating valuations are not designed to be used as market valuations for raising finance with banks or as insurance valuations. They are independently audited by the Office of the Valuer General and need to meet rigorous quality standards before the new rating valuations are certified.

New rating values will be posted to property owners after 4 November 2020. If owners do not agree with their rating valuation, they have a right to object through the objection process before 11 December 2020.