Big jump in value of city houses

A Weekend Herald survey shows the biggest increases have occurred not in upmarket suburbs but in working-class areas where first-home buyers and immigrants have been snapping up cheap and rundown properties.

Homeowners in Auckland, North Shore and Manukau will be receiving the latest three-yearly valuations of their properties over the next four months. To give them an idea of what to expect, the Weekend Herald surveyed more than 100 suburbs across the three cities, comparing house sales this year with the last official valuations, in 2002.

When the three councils revalue properties, they will use the new figures to set rates. Houses with an above-average rise in valuation will have an above-average increase in rates, and vice versa.

Suburbs such as Glen Innes and Otahuhu in Auckland City, Birkdale and Beach Haven on the North Shore and Manurewa East and Otara in Manukau have seen values rise much more than the average across their cities.

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