Capital valuation relevance debated

Mr Stevens asked ‘‘Who can say they had a valuer knock on their door last week . . . in the last few decades?’’.

Mr Nagel said QV used a combination of property inspections, when requested by the property owner to reassess a value, plus computer algorithms to assist with the assessment.

The system called Mass Appraisal was an internationally accepted approach for rating assessment, he said.

Metro’s Mr Stevens said recent sales of two identical, neighbouring properties in a coastal Dunedin suburb showed they shared the same CV, although one was redeveloped inside and the other was still internally in nearoriginal 1940s condition.

‘‘The [actual sale price] difference was at least 30%.’’

Historical house sale data of one suburb might suggest an overall 20% gain, which was then applied by QV suburbwide, without any visits taking place.

While encouraging sellers to get a valuation, Mr Stevens conceded few were being done at present by prospective buyers as the time lag could see them miss out on being able to make an offer.

Harcourts Dunedin manager and auctioneer Richard Stringer said when CVs were last set in July 2016, Dunedin’s median dwelling value was $323,000.

It was now $430,500 — a 33% lift in median value since 2016.

‘‘So it makes sense that CVs could be well behind today’s market value,’’ he said.

Dunedin regional spokeswoman for the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand Liz Nidd said she was ‘‘often surprised’’ when appraising a house, which then went on to sell well above CV.

‘‘I’ve seen plenty of people pleasantly surprised by the [eventual] sales price,’’ she said.