New QV data confirms housing correction across Upper Hutt
Property owners across Upper Hutt City will soon receive new rating valuation notices, with updated figures showing a citywide fall in values over the past three years.
Quotable Value (QV), on behalf of the Upper Hutt City Council, has completed revaluations for 18,474 properties, setting the city’s total rateable value at $16.68 billion, with land values making up $8.48 billion.
Rating valuations are completed every three years to help councils set rates. They reflect likely selling prices at the effective date — in this case, June 1 — not including chattels.
Housing market correction after post-pandemic peak
QV data shows average residential values in Upper Hutt have dropped 9.3% since the last revaluation in July 2022, bringing the average home value down to $776,000. The average land value fell 18.2% to $438,000.
QV senior consultant and registered valuer Jack Whiteman (pictured) said the new figures reflect a market that has cooled significantly since the post-COVID boom.
“When the previous rating valuations were set in July 2022, the local property market was coming off a period of exceptional post-pandemic growth,” Whiteman said in a media release.
“In response to that rapid escalation and rising inflation, the Reserve Bank substantially lifted the official cash rate (OCR) to rein in spending and bring inflation under control. The resulting spike in interest rates sharply reduced borrowing power and dampened buyer demand.”
Whiteman said affordability pressures have continued to limit activity across the region.
“The Wellington market — Upper Hutt included — experienced some of the strongest value growth in the country during the boom and has since undergone one of the sharpest corrections.”
Buyers’ market emerges amid weaker confidence
Whiteman said that while rates have eased slightly in recent months, other economic headwinds continue to weigh on confidence.
“Fast forward to June 2025, the market in Upper Hutt has been relatively subdued. While the OCR has recently seen a few cuts and interest rates are trending down again, other significant economic headwinds continue to deter growth,” Whiteman said.
He added that job insecurity, cost-of-living pressures and public-sector cuts had led to rising unemployment and migration outflows from the region.
“What was a sellers’ market in early 2022 has clearly shifted to a buyers’ market in 2025,” Whiteman said.
Housing that was newer or renovated held value slightly better, while older stock saw sharper declines of between 6.8% and 18.5%.
Industrial sector shines amid commercial slowdown
QV Wellington manager and registered valuer Hoa Quan said commercial property values fell 4.5%, while the industrial sector rose 9.7% since 2022.
“The industrial sector is benefiting from low vacancy levels within the Wellington region,” Quan said.
“Commercial land values have decreased by 13%, while industrial land values have increased by 13.5%.”
He said the industrial market has performed better than the commercial sector both locally and nationally, supported by logistics and warehousing demand.
Lifestyle and rural property trends
Lifestyle properties have also seen declines, with average values down 16.5% to $1.18 million, and corresponding land values down 20.1% to $600,000.
“Lifestyle property makes up a modest part of the Upper Hutt City market, with 1,219 lifestyle properties,” Quan said. “This sector of the market has followed a similar trend as the residential with prices easing back from the peak of the 2021/2022 market.”
True rural properties remain limited in Upper Hutt — fewer than 70 — though forestry land has held up best, down only 16% in three years.
What property owners need to know
The effective date for the new valuations is June 1, meaning recent market changes will not be reflected. Property owners will begin receiving their updated notices after Oct. 15.
QV said the new values have been independently audited by the Office of the Valuer General to ensure quality standards are met.
Property owners who disagree with their new rating value can lodge an objection by Nov. 21.
What the new valuations mean for advisers
For mortgage advisers, the updated QV data reinforces the shift to a buyers’ market in Upper Hutt and the wider Wellington region, as affordability constraints and job losses curb demand.
Falling valuations may impact equity positions, particularly for recent buyers, while easing rates could reawaken interest from first-home buyers and investors later in 2025.
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