Auckland Council has released new property valuations for 630,000 ratepayers, ahead of rate changes set to take effect from 1 July 2025. The updated rating valuations are based on property market conditions and sales activity as at 1 May 2024, and will help determine each property’s share of the city’s overall rates.
Prepared by independent valuation providers QV and Opteon, and approved by the Valuer-General, these valuations aim to fairly distribute rates across the region. However, they are not intended to reflect current market values and should not be used for insurance or mortgage purposes.
Auckland Council chief financial officer Ross Tucker noted the difference between the last valuation period in 2021, which was near the market peak, and the latest update in 2024, which reflects a cooled market.
“Between [2021] and May 2024 the economy and property market generally trended down. Therefore, as most people would expect, the May 2024 Capital Values (CVs) are lower than the previous 2021 CVs for many properties,” Tucker said.
Overall movements in CVs by property type include:
Industrial: +5%
Lifestyle: +4%
Rural: +4%
Commercial: -5%
Residential: -9%
Centrally located residential areas such as Puketāpapa, Albert-Eden, and Waitematā saw some of the steepest drops, with values declining by up to 14%. In contrast, areas further from the city, like Franklin and Hibiscus & Bays, experienced smaller reductions. Great Barrier Island was a notable outlier, with values increasing by 38%.
Chief Economist Gary Blick attributed much of the shift to the broader economic environment.
“At the time of the 2021 rating valuation... we saw exceptionally low mortgage rates and strong upward pressure on property prices,” he said. In contrast, the May 2024 valuation occurred after the Official Cash Rate had risen to 5.5%, cooling demand and dampening prices.
Blick noted that despite the decline, “the median house price as at June 2024 was still above the level just prior to the OCR cut of March 2020.”
The new valuations do not affect the total revenue Auckland Council collects from rates, but they do determine how the rates burden is shared. For 2025/2026, residential ratepayers will see an average increase of 5.8%.
“If your residential property value has reduced more than the average (-9%), you can expect a smaller rates increase than the 5.8%. Conversely, if your property value held up better than the average, then you can expect a larger rates increase,” Tucker explained.
An average residential property with a CV of $1.29 million will pay $4,069 in rates for the year — an increase of around $4.30 per week.
Auckland Council is encouraging residents who may struggle with the new rates to explore available assistance options, including:
Government-funded rates rebates
A rates postponement scheme
Flexible payment plans
From 1 July 2025, the SuperGold card income threshold for rebates will increase to $45,000, expanding eligibility.
Property owners can access their new valuations online from Tuesday, 10 June 2025. Formal notices are being sent via post and email from Friday, 13 June.
The updated valuations are done using mass appraisal techniques by analysing recent sales and property data such as type, location, and size. These are not physical inspections and reflect market values as of 1 May 2024 only.
Land values were a key driver of changes, with average residential land values falling by 13% and commercial land values down 6%, largely due to reduced development activity and potential zoning changes.
For more details and frequently asked questions, Aucklanders can visit the official Auckland Council website.