East beats west in city values

Hamilton property values on the east of the Waikato River have risen more than those on the west over the last three years.

Quotable Value's latest valuations of residential properties has Claudelands and Hamilton East up 4.3 per cent, Chartwell and Chedworth up 3.3 per cent and Fairfield and Woodstock up 3.2 per cent.

The average increase in residential capital – land and house value excluding chattels – across the city rose 1.17 per cent to $334,520.

However, the average property increase is a far cry from 2006 when the average value of residential properties more than doubled. The average land value slid 2.1 per cent to $160,239. The new valuations will be mailed to property owners next week.

Frankton recorded the biggest rise, up 4.4 per cent to $258,456 but, elsewhere in the west, Nawton and Dinsdale were both down 0.1 per cent and the Lake-Hospital area fell 2.4 per cent.

The CBD and Rotokauri were the hardest hit with the average property value falling 7.6 per cent and 6.4 per cent respectively.

The revaluation of all properties – commercial, dairy, horticultural, industrial, lifestyle, utilities – in Hamilton grew 2.5 per cent to $23.7 billion from $23.1bn in 2006 when the last revaluation was done.

Hamilton City Council revenue manager John Gibson said the property values were based on sales prices.

But the average sales prices for each area were just an indication and some property values could be higher and some could be lower, Mr Gibson said.

He said ratepayers needed to remember that an increase in capital values did not mean rates would change by a similar percentage as Hamilton City Council's rates were predominantly based on land value.

Quotable Value regional operations manager Richard Allen said property values had peaked at the end of 2007 and had dropped back to 2006 levels. He said Rotokauri had suffered from a slowdown in property sales on the back of steady sales during 2007 and some of 2008.

Hamilton's value levels had also increased at a greater rate compared to national levels, according to an index graph.

The new capital valuations received mixed reactions from Hamilton's real estate agents.

Lugton's managing director David Lugton said the rise in property values in the eastern parts of the city were also the areas that were most in demand. The valuations reflected what the market was doing.

"It's a very stable, steady market at the moment. There's a reasonable supply of properties and an even match of supply and demand."

Bayleys manager Stephen Shale said higher capital values were great news for people looking to sell.

The decline in property values in areas such as Maeroa, down 0.6 per cent, and the CBD, down 7.6 per cent, reflected a fall in demand for townhouses and apartments.

However, Harcourts general manager Brian King hadn't expected the values to move at all.

"I can't see why Rotokauri and the city came back and others have gone forward."

In some areas of Rototuna house prices were valued between $600,000 and $700,000, so the average price at $420,865 seemed relatively low, he said.

Mr King expected house prices to remain steady and there may be some increases in the market over the next two years.

Revaluations elsewhere include Waitomo up 2.65 per cent; Matamata-Piako up 8.2 per cent; and Hauraki up 6.7 per cent.

The steeper increases reported in Matamata-Piako and Hauraki were due to the value of farms not dropping as significantly as residential properties, Mr Allen said.

Tomorrow we'll look at the impact on your rates