PROPERTY VALUES

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 165, 15 July 1941, Page 2

PROPERTY VALUES

WARTIME FIRMNESS

ASSESSMENT COURTS QUIET

One of the quietest periods on record for Government valuation j ollicers in Auckland i> being experienced a.s a result of the virtual I suspension of re-valuations for the j period of the war. The sittings of ! the Government Assessment Courts, j which are usually spread over several weeks, and involve some , hundreds of cases in the urban and rural districts, were commenced last | Wednesday and concluded to-day, j when the chairman. Mr. A. A. MeLachlan, visited Te Kuiti. In contrast with the position in past years, the total cases for the at ten! ion of the Courts have numbered little over 20, all of a minor nature. Of the cases heard, the majority were in connection with Otahuhu borough properties, where a revision was carried out last year. Another borough revalued was Matamata. but there the whole operation was carried through without the need of Court intervention. A general firmness of values has been the outstanding feature of the property market since the beginning of the war. but so far there has been no sign of repetition of the strong forward movement In values which j developed in the latter stages of the J last war. culminating in unusually j high levels.

In parts (if suburban Auckland the demand for building allotments has boon reflected in firmer prices and in a tendency for vacant sections to l)t: more tightly lield. ljut this is not reported to be general. In house ■ properly the position is dominated j by a persistent shortage of dwellings of a size suitable for the average family, and values have been particularly tit rang, with evidence of a marked appreciation in recent i months. I