The average house value in Wellington is now sitting at $1.08 million. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Wellington City’s new rateable valuations show that, on average, house values have plummeted 24.4% since 2021.
Capital values have fallen across every suburb between 12.1% and 29.3%.
The average house value is now sitting at $1.08 million.
This compares with Auckland valuations which won’t be released until sometime in May at the earliest after being delayed, and are expected to show little movement from the last valuations in 2021.
Property owners in the capital will soon receive their new rating valuations in the post or via email. They will be available on Wellington City Council’s online property search and the QV website tomorrow.
Quotable Value chief operating officer David Nagel said rating valuations were a snapshot of the market at a point in time.
“When these were last set, back in 2021, the market was obviously rising very quickly, buoyed by record low interest rates. It then experienced some steep declines in 2022, influenced by higher interest rates and tighter credit conditions, as well as a higher rate of inflation and unemployment,” he said.
“Now, these latest rating valuations for Wellington City are reflective of a market that is still being affected by strong economic headwinds. Sales volumes have reduced, and sentiment has changed markedly from being a sellers’ market to being a buyers’ one.”
Commercial property values have decreased on average by 21%.
Wellington City Council financial operations manager Michael Nyamudeza stressed that the change in rating valuations did not mean rates bills would change by a similar percentage.
“The pie”, or the council’s budget, was still the same, he said.
“The proportionate change in a property will determine how that pie is sliced,” Nyamudeza said.
“So, some ratepayers will experience a situation where if the value of the property decreases to a magnitude that’s higher than the average decrease in the city, they are likely to get a rates decrease or an increase that’s less than everyone else.”
QV said the updated rating valuations were not designed to be used as market valuations.
“Where there are ratepayers who have concerns and want to sell their house, we would strongly encourage them to approach property valuers and not necessarily rely on the rating evaluations,” Nyamudeza said.
If owners do not agree with their rating valuation, they can submit an objection by the end of March.
Revaluations of 82,591 properties across the city were due to be released in December, but Wellington City Council had delayed the release until February due to “complexities” with determining values in areas with limited market data.
Sotheby’s Realty agent Mike Lovell said at that time the issue with Wellington was that “everything’s so out of whack”.
OneRoof previously reported properties in the capital have been consistently selling for well under RV (rateable valuation), with many suburbs showing a 20% drop in value.
Lovell thought a rateable valuation drop “probably should happen” as there were many RVs that were not reflective of value in most parts of the city.
“Or you’ve got inflated land values,” he said, noting he had an 80-year-old client with a piece of land attached to his property with a separate title, with an RV of $2m.
“We valued it and said it’s probably $600-700,000 as a section to sell.”
He said his client was “paying rates on a bit of dirt that’s probably not even worth $650,000″.
Tommy’s Real Estate chief executive Ben Castle has previously said he was unconcerned about the delay in RVs being released, saying they made little difference and were a “revenue grab” for the council.
“In the nicest sort of way, they are just a tax,” he said. “It’s just another number.”
Georgina Campbell is a Wellington-based reporter who has a particular interest in local government, transport, and seismic issues. She joined the Herald in 2019 after working as a broadcast journalist.
The man who had a warrant out for his arrest was spotted along Selwyn St on Sunday.