Some big city homes ‘worth less than CV’

Houses in about 50 parts of Auckland are now worth less than their capital valuations (CVs), new Homes.co.nz data shows.

The city’s properties were revalued last year but now suburbs including Mangere Bridge, Dannemora, Epsom, Half Moon Bay, New Lynn, Remuera and Te Atatu South all have median HomesEstimates – a value based on the current sales price of others in the area – of less than their CV.

St Johns had the lowest priceto-CV ratio, with a median value of 94 per cent of median CV.

Homes.co.nz chief data scientist Tom Lintern said the concept of relying on a CV as a price guide was becoming less relevant.

While buyers were used to putting a multiplier on CVs to assess a potential price, that was no longer an accurate indication.

‘‘Approximately 50 Auckland suburbs are valued less than their current CVs, highlighting how the capital valuation for a property can become out of date,’’ he said.

Christchurch was in a similar situation – Avonside, Upper Riccarton, Dallington and Avonhead were among the suburbs with properties worth less than CV, as a median value.

Lintern said while other main centres were still selling above CV, new valuations were due in Wellington, Hamilton and Tauranga.

If they then proved to have been done at the high point of the market, those centres could see the same trend.

Overall, Auckland now has a median HomesEstimate of $918,000, 0.2 per cent up on the year before. Christchurch is at $437,000, 0.3 per cent down.

However, figures from Quotable Value (QV), the nation’s stateowned valuation service, show a slightly different picture for Christchurch. House values in Christchurch according to QV have remained largely flat for several years, and increased 0.5 per cent in the past year to a median of $493,922.

Dunedin had the fastest value growth in the country, up 8.8 per cent. Wellington was also strong – up 6.2 per cent.

Lintern said Auckland’s flat price did not tell the full story. Lynfield values were down more than 5 per cent year on-year, St Johns down 3.9 per cent and Burswood down 3.8 per cent.

Lintern said the total value of New Zealand’s housing stock was now valued at $1.2 trillion.