THE NSW Valuer-General, Simon Gilkes, said land values across NSW have increased by more than 11 per cent, but Singleton and Muswellbrook have bucked the rising trend.
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The valuations are based on land and property sales data between July 2013 and July 2014, excluding improvements to the land.
“Seventeen firms analysed 43,000 property sales across NSW, including 393 in the Upper Hunter LGA, 375 in Singleton LGA and 273 in Muswellbrook,” Mr Gilkes said.
In Muswellbrook and Singleton typical residential and village values fell by up to six per cent.
“What we’ve seen in the Singleton and Muswellbrook areas in the Upper Hunter is the impact of a downtown in the mining sector over time,” Mr Gilkes told the Hunter Valley News.
“When this is coupled with an increase in unemployment it can translate into falling property prices and this can be reflected in land valuation.”
No significant variations were observed in typical property sales for Murrurundi, Jerrys Plains, Sandy Hollow, Camberwell or Denman.
Twenty-two of the state’s 152 LGAs saw falls in the value of residential land, with the largest decrease – 10 per cent – recorded at Cobar and Broken Hill, in the state’s Far West.
The inland LGAs recording the greatest growth in median residential land values included Gilgandra (30 per cent), Coonamble (20 per cent), Oberon (20 per cent) and Dubbo (19.5 per cent).
The new data shows another four Sydney suburbs - Waverley, Hunters Hill, Willoughby and Manly – have been pushed into the $1 million plus category for average residential land value.
Mr Gilkes said over the coming weeks, more than 882,000 Notices of Valuation will be sent ratepayers in 45 LGAs across NSW.
Included in that group are 7,743 land owners in the Upper Hunter Shire Council.
“The last time Notices of Valuation were issued in the Upper Hunter LGA it was 2012 and there’s been a 13 per cent increase since then,” he said.
Property owners in the Singleton and Muswellbrook LGAs will not receive Notices of Valuation until early 2017 because they are on a different three-year cycle.