Auckland’s latest council property valuations (CVs) have finally been released, falling by an average of 9%. Many homeowners are calculating how much value their properties have lost while worrying about rising council rates. Yet the real questions go beyond whether the numbers have risen or fallen: what do these valuations actually mean? What deeper effects could they have on the market, different groups and even the structure of society?
1 Falling CVs do not mean a housing market crash
First, a misconception needs clearing up: CV (capital value) is not the same as a property’s market sale price. As Auckland Council has repeatedly stated, these valuations are used solely to allocate shares of council rates. Their reference date is May 2024, so they cannot tell you ‘what your home could sell for now’.
Council chief financial officer Ross Tucker said: ‘The 2021 valuations came at the market peak, while the 2024 valuations were completed after a broad economic downturn. It was therefore expected that most CVs would fall.’
The real estate industry is also feeling the effects. Ray White Mount Eden head Jared Cooksley acknowledged: ‘People still look at CVs. If you thought your home was worth $2,000,000, but its CV is now only $1,500,000, our phones will be ringing non-stop.’ Many buyers even treat the CV as the bottom line when negotiating a purchase.
2 The divide between areas is widening
The data reveals a clear dividing line: the closer an area is to the city centre, the greater the decline.
According to the detailed trends released by the council:
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Areas around the city centre, including Puketāpapa, Albert-Eden, Maungakiekie-Tāmaki, Waitematā and Whau, recorded falls of as much as 13%–14%;
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By contrast, areas further from the city centre, such as Hibiscus & Bays, Upper Harbour and Franklin, recorded smaller declines, with changes of just -1% to -4%.
Auckland Council chief economist Gary Blick explained: ‘In 2021, the OCR (Official Cash Rate) was at a historic low, pushing up house prices. By the 2024 valuations, the OCR had risen to 5.5%, suppressing demand for homes and causing prices to correct.’
With the new CVs out, which Auckland areas are the winners and losers?
(Source: OneRoof)
Some areas, including Mangere Bridge, Henderson, Massey, Glen Innes, Point England and Panmure, also recorded sharper CV falls because their development potential had declined. Falling land values were a major driver of this round of CV changes:
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Most residential land fell in value by an average of 13%;
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Commercial land values fell by 6%.
Some areas even rose against the trend: CVs in Rodney remained unchanged, while Great Barrier Island rose 38%. This continued the trend seen in its 2021 valuation, when values surged 59%.
Residential CVs on Great Barrier Island rose 38%
CV changes varied across some storm-affected areas. For example, property CVs in Muriwai rose 12%, while those in Henderson fell by more than 10%.
3 CVs down, but council rates up? You read that correctly
If CVs have fallen, why will many people pay more in council rates?
The reason is that changes in CV help determine your share of council rates, rather than the total amount collected. Auckland Council will still introduce an average rates increase of 5.8% in the 2025/2026 financial year. If your home’s CV fell by less than the average (-9%), you will shoulder a slightly larger share of the rates burden.
For a home with a CV of NZ$1,290,000, for example, annual council rates are expected to be $4069, an increase of $223 on the previous year, or about $4.30 a week.
Tucker added: ‘We know the cost of living is putting pressure on our communities, so we continue to use long-term financial planning and spending cuts to keep rates increases as reasonable as possible.’
4 Māori families face pressure on two fronts
The effects of falling CVs on socially disadvantaged groups are beginning to emerge.
In 2023, only 27.5% of Māori owned their own homes, a much lower proportion than among people of European ethnicity. These limited property holdings are concentrated in areas around the city centre where CVs have fallen most sharply. Meanwhile, unemployment among Auckland Māori rose from 7.5% in 2023 to 9.2% in 2024.
Social welfare organisations warn that growing numbers of ‘middle-class Māori families’ could face housing affordability problems and seek government assistance. More seriously, Māori account for more than 40% of Auckland’s homeless population, and falling CVs combined with rising council rates could push that proportion even higher.
5 What kind of valuation system do we need?
The CV system was designed primarily to distribute council rates fairly, rather than reflect assets’ true market values. In practice, however, it has a profound influence on confidence in property transactions, lending valuations and residents’ expectations.
Valocity senior researcher Wayne Shum said: ‘CV is simply a valuation system used by councils to levy rates. It does not represent an actual sale price and cannot serve as the basis for insurance or lending valuations.’
However, Ray White Manukau partner Tom Rawson also acknowledged that, in practice, the public still misinterprets CVs and even uses them as pricing benchmarks. ‘Particularly in areas where development potential has been affected, such as flood red zones, CVs are already closer to reality than market prices.’
This raises deeper questions: in a highly volatile market, should we explore a more dynamic valuation mechanism based on data that more closely reflects reality? Should more sales data be made publicly available to reduce the perception that CV is the only benchmark?
Conclusion: changing numbers reveal a debate about underlying structures
On the surface, this CV adjustment is a data update. In reality, it reflects a series of deeper changes: a reshaping of market dynamics, reassessment of regional values, rebalancing of the rates burden and growing tensions within society.
This is about more than changes to the valuations of 630,000 properties. It also concerns a city’s collective judgement about future resource allocation, a fair sharing of costs and social stability.
Want to check your home’s latest CV?
Enter your address to look it up:
https://www2.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/property-rates-valuations/pages/find-property-rates-valuation.aspx
Are you happy with your property’s CV? Have changes to council rates had a significant impact on you? Share your views in the comments and join the discussion about this major development affecting 630,000 households!