CV delays: Auckland homeowners endure long wait for new property valuations
The latest valuations reflect the market as of May 1 last year when OneRoof figures show Auckland’s average property value was $1.31 million. This is marginally less than the average property value of $1.37m when Auckland CVs were last taken in June 2021.
Between the two sets of CVs, Auckland property prices peaked at $1.58m in January 2022 and fell to 2021 levels by the latest valuations in May last year, according to OneRoof figures.
The data will cover 547,350 residential, 43,663 business and 30,186 farm and lifestyle properties.
Auckland Council head of rates, revaluations and data management, Rhonwen Heath told the Herald last October the latest valuations will “now be released in early 2025”. The CVs were previously due to go out in late 2024.
In October, she put the delay down to the Valuer-General, who audits the figures, requesting additional work before public release.
This week, Heath said after an audit in September last year the Valuer-General advised the data required some amendments to ensure it accurately reflects the market on May 1 and before the valuations could be certified for public release.
“The main issues relate to rating valuations being consistently applied across the region in relation to sales data, zoning, and development potential,” she said.
The council plans to submit the revaluation file to the Valuer-General in April, meaning it will be a position in May to confirm when the valuations will be publicly released, Heath said.
Heath said the council is making every effort to complete the process so the new valuations can be used to set the 2025 rates from July 1. She would not speculate on missing the date and delaying the use of the new valuations to set rates until 2026.
The revaluation exercise does not change the total amount of rates revenue the council collects but helps distribute rates fairly between ratepayers.
Under an allocation mechanism, properties whose value has risen by more than the overall average increase or decrease will pay more in rates than the general rates increase this year, proposed to be 5.8%.
The opposite is true for valuations below the overall average. Their rates will fall relative to the general rates increase.
Tom Rawson, a real estate agent in South Auckland, said CVs play a part in people buying and selling homes, but online portals such as OneRoof were more accurate because they were updated more frequently.
“OneRoof is updated all the time. If there is a sale down the road then the estimate changes, whereas a CV is every three to four years.
“If the CVs are based on May 2024 and come out in the second half of 2025 they are irrelevant… and that can be confusing,” he said.
Rawson said people still mention CVs but they need to look at recent sales and what is happening in the area – “that is the best gauge”.
Over the past three council valuations back to 2014, between 7100 and 8400 property owners have challenged their valuations.
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