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Property valuations

About rating valuations

The valuation of a property helps determine how the rates are set.

Search your property under the rates and valuation information page here Rating Information Database Far North District Council.

All properties must be valued every three years, according to the Rating Valuations Act 1988, to help set the local body rates.  We refer to this as a General Property Revaluation. Far North District Council contracts Quotable Value to value properties on its behalf. They are New Zealand’s largest valuation and property services company.

Click here to find the current valuation of your property on the QV website.

A property value is made up of three components:
  • Land value
  • Capital value
  • Improvement value

Some of the property information used to assess the valuation of your property are:

  • Zoning
  • Land size
  • Location
  • House size
  • Sale prices

In the Far North district, it is the value of your land that is used to calculate most of your rates bill.

Far North District Council uses standard rating valuations governed by the Rating Valuation Act 1998 and audited by the Office of the Valuer-General.

Valuation explained

How is the valuation done?

Quotable Value assesses properties using a mass appraisal process. Rather than inspect every property, QV takes similar property sales in each area at the time of the valuation and establishes a market trend. Sometimes roadside inspections are carried out to check the accuracy of proposed values. QV also uses property information like building consents held by the council.

What do land value, capital value and improvement value mean?
  • Land value is the most likely the selling price of bare land at valuation date. It includes drainage, excavation, filling, retaining walls, reclamation, grading, levelling, vegetation clearing, soil improvement, and protection from erosion or flooding. It does NOT include buildings.
  • Capital value is the most likely selling price of the whole property at valuation date. It includes buildings and improvements. It does NOT include chattels, stock, crops, machinery or trees. Only capital value includes GST, other property types do not.
  • Improvement value is the difference between the capital value and the land value. It reflects the value of the property’s buildings and other structures.
How land value affects your rates

Learn how the council calculates your rates invoice, in particular how the General Rate is impacted by an increase in the value of the land your property sits on.


Common questions and answers

Useful links

Find the valuation for your property

Quotable Value

Find the rates and valuations for your property

Rating Information Database

The capital value is determined by recent sales in the area, which creates a market trend. Even if you have not made improvements to your land or property, its value may have increased because of strong sales in your area.

It is not practical to inspect every property, nor is it necessary. Council holds a lot of information about properties. Council tells QV about major changes like subdivisions and building consents. Roadside inspections can also confirm other changes.

Yes, but only some of the information.  The council is required by law to make some information public.  The contents of your valuation notice are contained within a public register known as the District Valuation Roll. This is available for public inspection at council offices for a limited time. You can access any information held about your property and ask for corrections to be made.

You can ask for your name to be removed from the District Valuation Roll. Visit a council service centre or phone us on 0800 920 029 or 09 401 5200.

Phone Quotable Value on 0800 787 284. Alternatively, go to QV's website for online property information.

What is a Rating Revaluation?

Every three years, all properties in the Far North District are revalued to help set the rates for the next three years. The revaluation determines three key values:

  • Land Value (LV) - the value of the land only
  • Capital Value (CV) - the likely sale price of the property on the effective date
  • Value of Improvements (VI) - the difference between CV and LV

Far North District Council rates are based on land value, so changes to your land value directly affect your rates.

The valuation process is carried out by our contracted valuer, Quotable Value (QV). Their team uses recent market data (sales and productivity), council records (such as building consents and subdivisions), and insights from real estate agents to assess property values across the district. The results are independently audited by the Office of the Valuer General (OVG) to ensure accuracy and fairness.

2025 Revaluation timeline

  • Effective Date: 1 September 2025
  • Owner Notification: 25 March 2026
  • Objection Period: 1 April - 8 May 2026
  • Rates Strike: 1 July 2026

How You Can Help

  • Have you made significant improvements to your property that didn’t need a consent?
  • Has the land use or commercial use of your property changed?
  • Is there any incorrect information on file about your property such as the number of bedrooms, bathrooms?
  • Has flooding or erosion impacted the way you use your land?
  • If QV doesn’t know about improvements or changes to your property, these cannot be reflected in your Rating Value.

If you said yes to any of the above, you can quickly and easily update those details online with QV via the Update My Property tool before 1 September 2025

What helps:

  • Photos of the significant changes such as renovations
  • Receipts or documentation
  • Notes about the work done
  • Details of any changes to commercial operations on the site or if they’ve ceased

What did the 2022 Property Valuation tell us?

The 2022 revaluation for the Far North District was conducted during a period of significant market volatility. The effective date was 1 October 2022, which coincided with the peak of the property market in the district. Leading up to this date, sales activity was high, and market conditions were buoyant, providing strong evidence for valuers to support increased property values across many locations and categories.

However, following the revaluation, the market experienced a sharp decline. This created confusion for many property owners who received their valuation notices months later and compared them to current market conditions rather than the effective date. As a result, the council received a record number of objections, 1,057 in 2022, compared to 731 in 2016 and 480 in 2019.

Key insights from the 2022 valuation:

  • Strong Market conditions over the past three years with increases across all areas. The market has flattened and, in some cases, receding within the current economic climate.
  • Remote townships which previously had a low land value base have had significant percentage increases since the 2019 revaluation, predominantly as they are coming off a low base.
  • Significant increase in demand for land, both industrial and commercial
  • Low vacancy rates for all commercial/industrial property types in main townships
  • Changes in zoning under the proposed district plan are driving changes in use and land values have reacted accordingly, namely the mixed business zone.
  • Small pastoral blocks seeing increases in line with bigger lifestyle blocks - demand for these recreational type blocks, even for isolated areas
  • Large increase in lifestyle holdings effect on smaller pastoral and dairy units

What did the 2019 Property Valuation tell us?

The 2019 Far North revaluation has mostly recorded increases in value across the board from the previously 2016 valuation date. The overall average residential movement from the 2016 valuations is 30 per cent on Capital Value and 35 per cent on Land Value. (Different locations have increased at varied levels. This is the average across the district).

Key points to keep in mind - a lower-value property may have moved at a greater percentage than a higher-valued property in the same area. The lifestyle market has also increased at a similar level to that of the residential market. Other sectors of note:

  • Dairy and pastoral land movement was 20 per cent on average across the district
  • Horticulturally categorised property had the largest increase with an average land value increase of 49 per cent
  • Forestry the least with an average movement of 3.6 per cent on Land value from 2016
  • Commercial and industrial land values shifted 30-35 per cent on average. Location was a factor to growth in this sector.
  • Across all sectors in the Far North district, the average Capital Value movement was 25 per cent  and 30 per cent for Land Value movement from the previous 2016 valuation levels.

What did the 2016 property valuation tell us?

The 2016 property valuation revealed that values increased in all areas except Kaikohe, Kaitāia township and Awanui. Moerewa saw no change. Looking at the Far North as a whole, land values rose by 11.7 per cent and capital values rose by 12 per cent. That increase largely reversed losses recorded by the 2013 valuation.

Last updated: 30 Jul 2025 11:05am