Home improvements, highly publicized market trends and flood damage were among the top factors that impacted property valuations in 2011, according to a group of valuers.
Propell National Valuers this week revealed the top influences on property valuations in 2011, with CEO Bart Mead commenting that heightened concern regarding flood prone houses affected valuations more than ever before.
“It comes as no surprise that valuers need to consider flood prone properties at greater length than they did 12 months ago,” Mead said.
Properties that were the target of expansion, extension or renovation projects also saw their values heavily affected, but Mead said that changes which were not considered attractive to others did nothing to increase values.
Location issues that had an influence included proximity to T-junctions, bus stops, cul-de-sacs, views, hills and access to city centres. Properties with poor neighbouring housing and those facing road junctions, where car lights shone on the property at night, performed badly. Conversely, properties within cul-de-sacs were preferred for the safety they implied.
Valuers also took into account the price bands properties fell within. “If the property is typical of what sells in that suburb, then it is likely to experience good demand and will sell,” Mead said.
He added that in the opposite extreme, a property that did not reflect normal properties in the suburb was usually in less demand – such as a $3m home in an otherwise $500,000 suburb.
Other factors that influenced values included:
- The level of care and maintenance on properties
- The number of other properties on the market at the same time – when more comparable properties were available, the lowest price usually sold first
- How the asking price measured up to the sales price: vendors often judged values on the sale prices advertised, but there was often a gap between asking prices and eventual sales prices achieved.
