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

The new rating valuations have been prepared for 6015 properties on behalf of the Ōpōtiki District Council by Quotable Value.

Their careful analysis shows the total rateable value for the district is now $4.7 billion, with the land value of those properties now valued at $2.5 billion.

On average, the value of residential housing has increased by 61 per cent since 2019, with the average house value now sitting at $575,000.

At the same time, the corresponding average land value has increased by 119 per cent to a new average of $336,000.

"Ōpōtiki hasn't been immune to the significant value growth that we've seen nationwide in recent years, which was primarily driven by record low interest rates," says QV property consultant and lead valuer Michael Power.

"Though that growth has fallen away relatively significantly in 2022 and into 2023, values are still well above where they were at the previous rating valuation in 2019."

Meanwhile, the local commercial and industrial sectors have had comparatively moderate increases across the district.

Commercial property values increased by 33 per cent on average, and property values in the industrial sector have increased by 66 per cent since the district's last rating valuation.

Commercial and industrial land values have also increased by 81 per cent and 163 per cent respectively.

The latest data shows that horticulture dominates the rural sector locally, with a 100 per cent increase in capital values compared to pastoral increase of 40 per cent and 22 per cent for dairy.

Since 2019, the average capital value of an improved lifestyle property has increased by 56 per cent to $652,000, while the corresponding land value for a lifestyle property increased by 65 per cent to $445,000.

"The lifestyle market has had moderate growth in line with the residential sector."

What are rating valuations?

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 July 1, 2022, and do not include chattels.

It is helpful to remember that any changes in the market since that time will not be included in the new rating valuations.

Often this means that a sale price achieved in the market today will be different to the new rating valuation set at July 1, 2022.

The updated rating valuations are independently audited by the Office of the Valuer General and need to meet rigorous quality standards before the new rating valuations are certified.

They are not intended to be used as market valuations for raising finance with banks or as insurance valuations.

New rating values will soon be posted to property owners. If owners do not agree with their rating valuation, they have a right to object through the objection process before March 9, 2023.