A Christchurch property is now valued at over $10m and 124 are between $5m and $10m after the city’s median rateable value jumped by almost 50%.
The city's new median RV is now $670,000, up 49% from $450,000 since the last round of RVs were issued three years ago.
The new RVs released by Christchurch City Council at the end of last month are based on a snapshot taken by the council in August 2022.
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An analysis of the RVs by OneRoof and its data partner Valocity found that of the 110 suburbs with 20 or more residential properties, 21 had a new median RV of $1m-plus, up on four suburbs in 2019.
The analysis also identified seven suburbs with a new median RV of less than $500,000, down from 62 in 2019.
A property on a large 3834sqm section on Dyers Pass Road in Cashmere holds the highest RV in the city at $10.15m, up from $6.74m from its 2019 RV. OneRoof records show there was a title transfer of the property in 2020 for $9m.
It may be superseded come the next round valuations. OneRoof records show a property on Wood Lane, in Fendalton, sold last year $11m. It has a new RV of $8.34m.
It’s the first time any Christchurch property has been valued over $10m. At the time of the 2019 revaluation, only 20 properties had RVs over $5m compared to 124 between $5m and $10m this time.
Christchurch’s lone RV of $10m plus is a stark contrast to Auckland which has 535 properties with RVs over $10m. A property in Huriaro Place, in Orakei, has the city’s highest RV at $58m, followed by a property on Riddell Road in Glendowie that has an RV of $52m.
The new RVs reflect the changes in the city's housing market post-Covid. The majority of properties in 2019 (87,279) had an RV of $500,000 or less. In 2022, just 23,499 now sit in that price band, a decrease of 73%.
Properties in the $500,000-$750,000 price bracket make of the bulk of the city's housing market, rising from 41,473 in 2019 to 66,235, while the number of homes in the $1m-plus bracket has risen 216%.
The analysis by Oneroof and Valocity found that while the top end of the city's housing market is still small, it is growing fast. The number of $2m-plus properties has grown from 900 to 2906, with 124 in the $5m-$10m category and one in the $10m-plus category.
Houses in Kennedys Bush, the suburb with the highest median RV. Photo / Peter Meecham
The suburb with the highest median RV is Kennedys Bush, up 47% ($535,000) on 2019 to $1.67m, while the suburb with the lowest median RV is Birdlings Flat, up 39% ($70,000) on 2019 to $250,000.
The analysis identified Taylors Mistake as the suburb that saw the biggest lift. Its median RV jumped 70% ($370,000) to $900,000. The suburb that saw the smallest change was Christchurch Central, up only 34% ($150,000) on 2019 to $590,000.
Valocity senior research analyst Wayne Shum said the large increases in RVs was not surprising, given the surge in the market post-Covid, although he noted that property values in the city had dipped in the last six months.
Shum said Valocity’s own figures put the average property value in Christchurch at $745,000, which still made it relatively affordable compared with a lot of other cities. “If you take $800,000 and go shopping around the country, you get left out of Auckland, you get left out of Wellington, you get left out of Tauranga. Hamilton is marginal – you'd be in line with Hamilton.”
Ray White Metro sales and auction manager Richard Withy said lift in RVs in Kennedys Bush was probably due to newer subdivisions coming on stream. These have typically featured larger homes built on larger sections.
He said other suburbs such as Cashmere was viewed as one of the premium hill suburbs in Christchurch due to its proximity to the CBD and school zones.
Withy said central Christchurch’s smaller rise could be due to the large amount of building happening in the area that may have stopped the values from rising quite as much. “As soon as you increase supply the price doesn’t tend to sky rocket.”
Both Withy and Shum said it is important for people to note that RVs were a tool for council to base its rates and did not necessarily reflect market value and what someone should pay for a property.
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