Updated rating valuations (CVs) for Auckland properties have been delayed and will now be available in March 2022, Auckland Council confirms.
Auckland property values were last updated in 2017. Under the re-valuation process, which is required by law every three years, council valuers, along with government-owned valuation company, QV, analyse recent property sales information, resource and building consent data and undertake sample inspections.
They're one of the elements Auckland Council uses to determine the share of rates. They can also be used as a reference for property information, such as floor area and land size.
In a statement released on Tuesday afternoon, Auckland Council confirms updating rating valuations for the Auckland region have been delayed, and expects they'll be available in March 2022.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has added layers of complexity which have affected the council’s ability to complete the revaluation this year," the statement said.
"The audit conducted by the Office of the Valuer-General (OVG) determined that the council and its valuation partner Quotable Value (QV) need to do more work on the values before they will be ready for release."
The updated property values (referred to as 'capital value', or 'CV'), will be based on the most likely selling price if the property had sold on 1 June 2021.
They'll take effect for rate assessments from 1 July, 2022, Auckland Council confirmed.
As in the past, Auckland ratepayers who don't believe the value is accurate will have the right to make an objection. Due to delays, some ratepayers who made objections before the 2022/2023 rating year may not have been notified.
"Ratepayers can rest assured if their value is changed as a result of their objection, any changes to their rates will be backdated accordingly," Auckland Council said.
If the property value increases, it doesn't automatically mean a ratepayer pays more.
"What will determine a rate increase is if your property value has increased more than the average increase across the region. If your property increases in value but this increase is below the average, this may mean you will pay less in rates," Auckland Council confirmed.
Shane Martin, senior economist at Auckland Council, told Newshub although the CV is often used as a reference for property information, such as floor area and land area, it's not an estimate of the current house price.
The median price of houses sold in Auckland is already higher than in June, with the latest Quotable Value HPI figures showing a 9.2 percent increase from June 1 to November 1.
"They're the Council's best estimate of what the sale price of a property would've been had it [been] sold in June 2021," Martin said.
CoreLogic head of research Nick Goodall said although Auckland Council CVs will be around nine months' old by the time they're out, as in the past, buyers and sellers may use the updated figure as a ballpark, comparing the percentage above CV similar properties have sold for.
"That process has been automated by valuation models (e.g. homes.co.nz, Quotable Value and property value.co.nz)... that often provides a better guide of a property value because it does all that for you," Goodall said.
