25 Queensland local government areas will receive new land valuations in 202.1

Landowners in 25 Queensland local government areas (LGAs) will receive new land valuations in March 2021.

Queensland Valuer-General, said the LGAs receiving new valuations in 2021 were Balonne, Banana, Barcaldine, Barcoo, Blackall-Tambo, Bulloo, Burdekin, Central Highlands, Charters Towers, Cook, Diamantina, Gladstone, Gympie, Isaac, Longreach, Maranoa, Murweh, Paroo, Quilpie, Somerset, Southern Downs, Tablelands, Toowoomba, Western Downs and Whitsunday.

“The decision to value these LGAs follows consultation with councils, local and industry stakeholder groups, consideration of property market survey analysis, and the year in which the areas were last revalued,” the Valuer-General said.

“The 2021 annual valuation program will involve approximately 261,000 properties, representing approximately 59 per cent of the total land area of Queensland.

“Valuations are issued annually across the state, except in unusual circumstances or where it is determined there has been insufficient market movement in a local government area to warrant a new valuation.

“In LGAs where new valuations are not issued in 2021, the most recent annual valuation will remain effective.”

When undertaking the market surveys, Queensland’s State Valuation Service has looked at a number of factors, including property sales, to determine if market movement has occurred since the last annual valuation.

The Valuer-General said the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic this year was a major consideration when determining the property market and any movement in each local government area.

“While transaction numbers have reduced from previous levels, the residential sector has been largely resilient with values remaining steady or improving,” the Valuer-General said.

“Queensland’s rural areas have been largely unaffected by the negative impacts of COVID-19, and continuing confidence has seen positive value growth in the pastoral zones of South West and Central Queensland.

“While the economic decline brought about by shut downs earlier in the year may have negatively impacted some sectors of the non-residential market, the reopening of businesses has seen some confidence return to these sectors.

“Market based evidence is still required to identify actual impacts from location to location, and land use to land use. Overall, the potentially impacted non-residential properties is only a small proportion of properties of most local government areas.”

“The variable nature of the economy has meant that any impact on land value and market movement in a particular sector or location is too uncertain due to the lack of any comparable sales evidence”.

Market survey analysis provides an overview of property market trends throughout Queensland, and may be subject to change as further valuation analysis is undertaken for the annual land valuation program.

Landowners should remember that land valuations are just one of the factors taken into account by local councils when they prepare their annual budget and set rates to pay for the services they provide to their community.

Queensland landowners can sign up to receive their next land valuation notice by email by visiting the Land Valuations website at www.qld.gov.au/landvaluation.