Christchurch capital valuations have decreased overall by nearly 1 per cent in the three years to September 1, with residential dwellings decreasing by 1.3 per cent overall.

Quotable Value Christchurch Acting Manager, Mark Dow, said the results are in line with the general trends throughout the country.

"People should remember that these are averages, and averages are made up of a range of results," said Mr Dow.

Mailed Out 20 November

Revaluation Notices will be mailed out to households by Quotable Value on  20 November. Quotable Value will have a call centre available for inquiries from 20 November. The contact number will be included in Revaluation Notices.

A revaluation of Christchurch properties is made every three years. The valuation will see houses in Fendalton rise by an average just above 6 per cent with very slight rises in Cashmere and Mount Pleasant. But overall residential properties will decrease.

Christchurch City has 137,500 properties of which 91,914 are residential and 26,074 are residential flats. Nearly 4000 residential properties are vacant.

Mr Dow said the residential market is relatively flat in comparison to previous years. Residential dwellings have decreased overall by 1.3 per cent with the overall value of flats going down by 4 per cent.

"The movements in value have been locality based, with the affluent suburbs performing better than the more modest suburbs," said Mr Dow.

Pressure on the property market creating a "buyers’ market" for more standard-type properties had come from a number of factors including slow economic growth, negligible population growth, many more rental properties on the market and several thousand more residential sections available on the outskirts of the city.

Total Revaluation

The total capital value of the city has decreased by nearly 1 per cent. Residential is down 1.3 per cent overall, commercial and industrial is up 0.1 per cent overall, and rural is up by 2.8 per cent overall.

Christchurch’s central business district commercial property has, in general, been static. Value changes for the 1590 commercial properties have shown a reduction in value of 0.6 per cent.

Vacancy levels for high quality type office space have reduced and small increases in office rent per square metre have occurred. Values of suburban commercial properties, including motels, hotels, service stations, and rest homes, have decreased by 0.4 per cent on 1998 levels.

However, the major retail malls have generally maintained their 1998 levels.

Rural lifestyle block values have increased on average 1.2 per cent while rural properties increased 2 per cent.

Christchurch City Council’s Financial Services Manager, Paul Melton, said today that it is too early to say how the revaluation would affect the Council rates.

"The new revaluation would be applied to the capital value of properties in the 2002-2003 financial year. We cannot say yet what the effect revaluation will have on rates because we do not have the precise figures or know our rate requirements until next year", Mr Melton said.

Mr Melton said that as the change is not constant across the city, there will be a redistribution of where the Council’s rate income is derived.

Results

Results of the Christchurch revaluation are:

	Capital Value	Land Value
Overall	-0.8 %	+0.6%
Residential	-1.3%	+0.8%
Rural	+2.8%	+3.4%
Lifestyle	+1.2%	+2.3%
Commercial/Industrial	+0.1%	-0.6%

For more information: Mark Dow, at Quotable Value ph: 374 0115.