Thames-Coromandel residential property values have topped $1 million, New Zealand property valuation company Quotable Value (QV) said.

This is an increase of an average 33 per cent since the district’s last revaluation in 2020.

Local property owners will soon receive new three-yearly rating valuations in the mail as updated values have been prepared for 30,231 properties in the district by independent valuers QV on behalf of Thames-Coromandel District Council.

The updated values reflect the likely price a property would have sold for in July 2023, not including chattels.

Since the district’s 2020 revaluation, the value of residential housing had increased by an average of 33 per cent, QV said, with the average house value now sitting at $1,103,000.

The corresponding average land value had increased 32 per cent to a new average of $731,000.

QV North Island operations manager James Wilson said the past three years had been a “rollercoaster” for the property market, with record-low interest rates helping to drive significant value growth in 2021, before experiencing a long period of decline throughout 2022 and 2023.

“We’ve witnessed a strong increase in residential property value levels overall since our last revaluation in Thames-Coromandel ... Value levels have softened since experiencing a post-Covid ‘boom’ back in 2021, but they remain significantly higher than they were back in 2020,” Wilson said.

“[Thames-Coromandel] district posed some unique challenges for our valuers who not only had to ensure that changing value trends were well analysed and understood, but also had to ensure impacts of recent weather events and potential longer-term hazard and climate change were considered.”

Meanwhile, commercial property values in the district increased an average 21 per cent while property values in the industrial sector had increased an average 63 per cent since the district’s last valuation.

Commercial and industrial land values had increased by 28 and 65 per cent respectively.

A snapshot of 2020 valuations. Thames-Coromandel District Council

Horticulture continues to dominate the rural sector, with a 43 per cent average increase in capital values compared to a pastoral increase of 27 per cent, and 23 per cent for dairy.

The total rateable value for the entire district is now $16.7 billion, with the land value of those properties now valued at $9.1b.

In 2020, the district had 29,242 properties while the overall value of property in the district had increased 19 per cent since the 2017 valuation to around $25.085b.

What are rating valuations?

Rating valuations are usually carried out on all New Zealand properties every three years to help local councils assess rates for the following three-year period.

They are not intended to be used for any other purpose, including raising finance with banks or as insurance valuations.

They reflect the likely selling price of a property at the effective revaluation date, which was July 1, 2023, and do not include chattels.

Any changes in the market since that time will not be included in the new rating valuations, which often means that a sale price achieved today will be different than the new rating valuation.

Rating valuations are calculated using a highly complex and detailed process that utilises all relevant property sales from your area. A large number of properties will also be physically assessed, particularly those that have been issued building consents in the last three years.

The updated rating valuations are then independently audited by the Office of the Valuer General to ensure they meet rigorous quality standards, before the new rating valuations are confirmed and posted to property owners.

If owners do not agree with their rating valuation, they have a right to object through the objection process before June 20, 2024.