Why you shouldn’t panic about your Council Valuation

This week, Hamilton City Council confirmed what we were all expecting – residential property values have dipped over the last four years.  The average decrease was 12%. If you own a property in Hamilton you can check its new Ratings Valuation (RV) online.

If this news has made you suddenly feel like your net worth has taken a hammering, here’s a few points to ponder:

• Hamilton is faring better than nearly every other part of the country when it comes to the residential property market, on all metrics. Wellingtonians recently received news their ratings valuations had plummeted 25%.
• Hamilton is growing faster than any other city in New Zealand which means the future looks decidedly bright for property owners here relative to anywhere else in the country.
• The ratings exercise was done in September 2024 - things have changed a lot in the last nine months so this snapshot in time is already out of date.
• You’re not alone. Nearly every property owner in New Zealand is receiving news just like it.  A recession will do that. We’re all in this together and remember, if you are considering a move, you’ll be buying and selling in the same market.
• An RV is not a market valuation – it's a desktop exercise and notoriously inaccurate.  Your superior interiors or landscaping, for instance, will never be reflected in this metric.
• While some people use RVs as a guide when perusing property online, agents never do, so as soon as someone enquires or sees a property, an RV is effectively a non-issue.
• How someone feels about a property is a more powerful determinant of how much they’d pay for it. Feelings are hard to measure, especially by people sitting behind a computer who have never seen your house in the flesh.  Focus on feelings. 

If you want to find out more about the true value of your property, reach out for a chat today.