Do Council Rates Valuations Use Realestate.com.au Data?

brettule on 10/01/2025 - 08:41
Last edited 10/01/2025 - 08:50 by 1 other user

I noticed my property value on realestate.com.au was pretty low but also is reported as a "low confidence" value by them.

I assume it's because when I bought it 15 years ago it was a small 2br house, I've since done major renovation. I looked at updating realestate.com.au so I could get a better idea of the value and track it, but it was when they asked me to provide evidence as the homeowner, via a rates notice, that I stopped and wondered.

If I update realestate.com.au with the new renovation footprint etc, I'll get a much higher estimate of value, but will my (Melbourne metro) council also use realestate.com.au values when assessing a property value for determining rates? I'm wondering if there is the possibility that my council rates will skyrocket if they do use this data to inform them.

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Comments

  • MS Paint on 10/01/2025 - 08:50
    +1

    No. Possibly. Who knows.

    • brettule on 10/01/2025 - 08:56

      Thanks for the link. It's seems a bit ambiguous still. "municipal councils will determine the valuation of a property as part of the annual general valuation process" it doesn't say how each council arrives at that determination and what data they are limited to use.

      • MS Paint on 10/01/2025 - 09:20

        This gives a bit more detail.

        There are better sources of house/land data eg. CoreLogic.

      • Duckie2hh on 10/01/2025 - 09:33

        If you have concerns about discrepancy in values, there are ways to challenge this. Although you will need to do the leg work and obtain a formal valuation from a third party.

  • Boioioioi on 10/01/2025 - 09:05

    Interesting, here in Brisbane rates are based on land value, not home value

    • Dollar General on 10/01/2025 - 09:15

      It’s a combination of land value and capital improved value

      • brad1-8tsi on 10/01/2025 - 09:26

        In NSW it's land value.
        The home on the land isn't part of the equation but if it's a desirable area then that boosts the land value and the more expensive the land the more likely someone will build a McMansion in order to maximise their capital investment.

    • mskeggs on 10/01/2025 - 09:35

      Getting a neg for linking to the site that explains how land is valued for council rates!

      Fron the page on the process:

      To make a valuation, valuers collect and analyse:

      property transactions, such as sales and rental transactions
      external/internal inspection data
      historical government property data records
      planning permit/building permit records
      planning (zones and overlay) information
      property transaction statistics
      property title and occupancy details.

      • brettule on 10/01/2025 - 09:38
        -1

        "external/internal inspection data" is pretty vague, that sounds like they could use external data sources like realestate.com.au confidence valuation.

        • mskeggs on 10/01/2025 - 09:40
          +1

          Perhaps? I imagine a valuer tries to consider al factual information they can to get to the value. I think the inspections are actual physical inspections performed by the valuer.

        • sumyungguy on 10/01/2025 - 11:45
          +1

          CoreLogic is the leading property data, information, analytics and services provider in Australia… not realestate.com.au

  • Protractor on 10/01/2025 - 09:31
    -5

    It varies across states and councils, but the bottom line is>Local govts are a law unto themselves. A trough for the parasitic in society.They do what they want and you pay for the pleasure.It should be abolished.

    • mskeggs on 10/01/2025 - 09:36
      +3

      In Victoria it doesn't vary at all, and all councils use the valuation provided by the valuer general.

      • brettule on 10/01/2025 - 09:40

        Very first link from MSPaint read "The Valuer-General or municipal councils will determine the valuation of a property"

        • mskeggs on 10/01/2025 - 09:43
          +3

          And their page also says:
          From 1 July 2018, the Valuer-General became the valuation authority for annual valuations of all land in Victoria for council rates, land tax and the fire services property levy. Since the 2023 general valuation, Valuer-General Victoria is responsible for determining valuations for all 79 councils in Victoria.

          So maybe that first page hasn't been updated.

          https://www.land.vic.gov.au/valuations/valuations-for-rate-a…

    • Duckie2hh on 10/01/2025 - 09:43

      You dropped your tin foil hat.

      <hands over a crumpled & homemade tin foil hat>

      • Protractor on 10/01/2025 - 09:45

        I think you'll find that's your rose coloured glasses duckie

  • brettule on 10/01/2025 - 09:44
    -1

    Perhaps I'm getting this arse about? The CIV was probably already calculated when I submitted my planning permit and had the reno completed 8 years ago. Maybe it's realestate.com.au that is lagging behind and my rates valuation is correct.

    • barge-in hunter on 10/01/2025 - 09:59
      +1

      So you have to remember that any valuation model is only as good as the data it has access to.

      Council:
      - have access to your planning permits (and therefore, a recent floorplan). They have accurate info about local properties.

      realestate.com.au:
      - have access to a huge amount of sales and demand data (as in, they know how many people are actively looking at properties, which they believe are just like yours). They have accurate info about the broader market.
      - have access to the most recent 'publicly available' floorplan/data about your house… which in this case is 15 years ago. If a property hasn't sold/leased recently, they could have poor info about the specific property

      It's entirely possible that the local government buy that valuation data from realestate.com.au or more likely, get it via another source (eg, realestate sell data to bank - bank 'massage' it and sell to local council), but it'll probably only be one ingredient the their final valuation.

      • brettule on 10/01/2025 - 10:14

        That sounds more like it. Thanks. Best play for me then, just leave everything alone and don't worry about realestate.com.au valuation estimates. If/when it comes time for me to sell then the estimates are irrelevant anyway.

  • EFC94 on 10/01/2025 - 10:00
    +2

    If you want a good indication of your homes value, look at comparable recent sales from your local area or call one of your local agents and ask them to come do a valuation. I'd take realestate.com values with a grain of salt.

  • sumyungguy on 10/01/2025 - 10:13

    Value estimates on publicly accessible property marketing websites only matter when you're selling. At that time your property details will get updated in RP Data so your agent can run a valuation report.

  • jv on 10/01/2025 - 10:52

    No

  • Euphemistic on 10/01/2025 - 11:39

    Theres a disparity between the RE valuationnand the council valuation. RE is value based on sales in the area and is a guess from an algorithm to give a BUYER an idea what its worth. Its a marketing gimmick by the website, not a valuation.

    The council valuation is done differently and not designed to suit buyers.

    Either way, you dont want to up your RE valuation 'just in case'.

    If you want to know the 'value' of your property, just make a guess based on recent sales in the area - just like RE does.

  • altomic on 10/01/2025 - 11:45

    Are you planning on selling? Or looking at getting a loan against your property? Hence wanting a higher value.

    If neither then dont worry about it.

    If you do want to borrow against the equity then the bank will send a valuer. They do valuations for properties based on the property size and house "stats" , as well as compariative research of like properties in the area .

  • avoidfullprice on 10/01/2025 - 15:01
    -1

    Council rate valuation is based on unimproved land value (ie land without the building). So likely influenced by sales but not drawn from CoreLogic data

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