Ryan Bridge crunches new property data with Cotality as Auckland prices fall by 9%. Video / Herald NOW
Home owners in the trendy inner-city suburb of Ponsonby have seen the value of their typically small sections fall by more than $400,000 in the new council valuations.
While the value of land has dropped, the prized and mostly renovated kauri villas in the streets off the Ponsonby Rd striphave seen a bump in value.
The drop in land values has become a topic of discussion on a local social media site, with one member inquiring if anyone else has discovered a $500,000 reduction in land value.
“I have mates in Herne Bay with a zero decrease and others in Grey Lynn with a $300,000 to $400,000 drop,” the person said.
A random check of the valuations for four properties in Ponsonby found the land values had dropped by between $475,000 and $625,000. House values, referred to as “value of improvements” by the council, were up as much as $250,000.
The council’s long-awaited new capital valuations (CVs) have fallen by 9% between June 2021 and May 2024, with property values in the city’s outer suburbs faring better than those in the inner suburbs.
Diners eating outdoors on the trendy Ponsonby Rd strip. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
The council said Ponsonby’s CVs dropped by 14%, from $2.65 million in 2021 to $2.27m on May 1 last year. The average land value dropped by 19% from $2.08m to $1.65m.
The Ponsonby decrease is in line with a general trend for larger declines in areas closer to the city centre and is consistent with the surrounding suburbs of Herne Bay, Grey Lynn, and Freemans Bay, the council said, saying Ponsonby values are still well above the Auckland average.
The council said Ponsonby has very few vacant sites and land sales, so land values are determined from improved sales rather than vacant land sales.
“The improvements on many of the properties in Ponsonby can’t be demolished due to zoning restrictions, so properties with low improvement values or “do-ups” provide valuers with information on appropriate land values in these areas.
A typical, renovated Ponsonby villa. Photos / Ted Baghurst
“Values are primarily driven by land values as they comprise around 75% of a property value on average for single housing on standalone sites in these inner-city locations. Land Value shifts tend to be greater than Capital Value shifts because of this,” the council said.
Council chief finance officer Ross Tucker said the CVs were not for estimating the current market value of properties or for mortgage and insurance purposes, but to share rates between properties.
However, the CVs are a massive source of fascination for property-mad Aucklanders when it comes to buying and selling homes.
Nick Goodall, head of research at Cotality, said the new CVs were relatively in line with market changes between 2021 and 2024, describing them as “old news”.
He said an increase in the number of valuation models, such as OneRoof and Cotality, gave people a good feel for the current value of their property.
“For those who want to understand how it flows through to their rates, then [the new CVs are] really important.”
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