All property owners in Invercargill and Bluff will soon receive a 2020 Notice of Rating Valuation with an updated rating value for their property.
This is a result of the triennial rating revaluation, carried out by Quotable Value (QV) on behalf of Invercargill City Council. The updated rating values are used as one factor to help Council set rates for the next three years from July 2021.
A Rating Valuation is the estimated price a property would sell for at the effective date of the rating revaluation, which is September 1, 2020, but does not include chattels such as curtains and appliances.
Since the last rating revaluation as at July 1, 2017, property values have seen a strong rise throughout the region by 35.1% overall.
Residential values overall are now, on average, 48.2 per cent higher than they were three years ago, with residential land values on average more than 59.8 per cent higher than they were three years ago.
Summary of the overall value changes for property category groups
| Sector | No. of assets | CV % change | LV % change |
| Dairy & Pastoral | 292 | -2.5% | -2.7% |
| Arable, Horticultural & Specialist | 31 | 7.3% | 9.0% |
| Forestry | 14 | 36.4% | 37.5% |
| Lifestyle | 2066 | 25.6% | 26.4% |
| Mining | 13 | 0.9% | 1.2% |
| Residential | 21,060 | 48.2% | 59.8% |
| Commercial | 899 | 16.8% | 41.1% |
| Industrial | 816 | 13.0% | 22.0% |
| Other | 669 | 12.6% | 45.1% |
| Utilities | 85 | 32.4% | 31.8% |
| TOTAL | 25,945 | 35.1% | 44.4% |
The average residential dwelling within Invercargill City is now valued at $384,000, up from the average of about $260,000 in 2017.
Land values in some areas have risen more than others in the district too, particularly in Appleby, Georgetown, and South Invercargill, where land values have increased by more than 180 per cent, driven by strong demand. This is compared with some areas which have been traditionally considered ‘higher value,’ such as Windsor, where a more modest average increase has been seen.
Residential Dwelling Movements
| Average dwelling value | Dwelling % change since 2017 | Average house land value | Land % change since 2017 | |
| Appleby, Georgetown | $268,000 | +63.7% | $82,000 | +143.2% |
| South Invercargill | $304,000 | +61.6% | $72,000 | +181.2% |
| Bluff | $236,000 | +46.3% | $70,000 | +125.7% |
| Otatara | $548,000 | +32.1% | $154,000 | +20.7% |
| Richmond | $416,000 | +54.6% | $181,000 | +35.2% |
| Appleby Kew | $279,000 | +53.2% | $81,000 | +180.2% |
| Waikiwi, Grasmere | $441,000 | +51.1% | $158,000 | +63.4% |
| Rosedale, Waverley | $477,000 | +33.6% | $234,000 | +45.5% |
| Gladstone, Avenal | $507,000 | +36.7% | $218,000 | +29.7% |
| Windsor, Richmond | $497,000 | +39.0% | $257,000 | +39.4% |
| Glengarry, Hawthorndale | $354,000 | +55.7% | $111,000 | +54.6% |
| Central City | $286,000 | +62.9% | $102,000 | +96.6% |
Finance and Assurance Group Manager Michael Day said this rating valuation increase is good news for the city, but will have an impact on the distribution of rates across the city.
“Rates which are based on properties’ rateable valuations are calculated on the valuation for each individual property throughout the city.
“Different increases across the city will change the distribution of rates accordingly,” Mr Day said.
Property owners will receive letters including their new rating valuation in the post after November 25, and new Council rates taking into account the new rating values will be effective from 1 July 2021.
New rating values will be available on Council’s website no later than November 20.
If you don’t have internet access, you can come into the Civic Administration Building or Bluff Service Centre, and the Customer Services staff will provide you with a printed copy of the information.
Alternatively, both the Invercargill and Bluff Public Libraries have computers available for people to use to access the Council website and to view their new rating valuation using the Property Search tool.
If property owners don’t agree with their new rating value or if they have made refurbishments and improvements to their property that didn’t require a building consent and believe this added value has not been reflecting in their new valuation, they have the right to make an objection within a specific timeframe.
The objection close-off date is January 22, 2021 and there will be information on how to object on the owners’ notice. For more information on rating valuations and what they are for, visit www.ratingvalues.co.nz, or our website www.icc.govt.nz/rates/valuation-questions-answered
