Land valuations
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ACT Government base some property charges on the average unimproved value (AUV) of the property. These property charges are:
- Rates
- Land tax
- Land rent
- City Centre Marketing and Improvements Levy (CCMIL)
- Police, Fire and Emergency Services Levy (for commercial properties only)
Unimproved value
Unimproved value is what a property’s land is worth without any improvements. Improvements include:
- buildings
- landscaping
- paths
- fences.
The unimproved value reflects the most valuable use of the property permitted by its Crown Lease purpose clause.
The unimproved value is often different to the market value of the property.
The ACT Revenue Office updates the unimproved value of properties every year.
ACT Government property charges are based on the average unimproved value (AUV) of the property over 5 years. This reduces the effect of a large change in value in a single year.
See how land is valued in the ACT for more information.
How to find a property’s unimproved value
Valuation notices
The ACT Revenue Office sends property owners a valuation notice each year with their annual rates assessment notice. The notice will show the property's unimproved value as of 1 January that year.
Individual unit owners do not receive a valuation notice for their unit. The ACT Revenue Office will send a valuation notice for the entire property to the owner's corporation.
Find your unimproved value
Go to the Unimproved value register to search for a property’s unimproved value.
How land is valued in the ACT
The ACT Revenue Office determines the unimproved value of ACT land.
The ACT Revenue Office employs qualified valuers to update the unimproved value of properties each year.
The annual valuation process
Valuers will:
- Group properties together based on similar location, use and distance to services and amenities. All properties in the group will normally have a similar change in value.
- Analyse the recent sale prices of vacant properties in or near the group. When no vacant properties are available, they use sales of improved properties. They remove the value of improvements to calculate the land value.
- Adjust the sale values to reflect:
- factors that influence land value
- the most valuable use of the property permitted by its Crown Lease purpose clause
- how the property market performed on 1 January of the year of valuation.
- Calculate a percentage change in value from the last valuation year.
- Apply the percentage change to all properties in the group and calculate their new land values.
- Perform quality checks on the new land values.
The ACT Revenue Office will then send new annual valuation notices to property owners.
What factors influence land value?
Valuers consider many factors when valuing land. These include:
- size of the property
- location on the street
- views from the property
- development potential and restrictions such as location of power lines, sewerage pipes and contamination
- distance to shops, schools, public transport and other services
- development near the property.
Single residential properties
Most properties in the ACT are single residential properties. These are properties that contain a single dwelling. Valuing each of these properties every year is not viable, so valuers use a ‘mass appraisal benchmarking’ method. Valuers will:
- Choose a property from its valuation grouping to represent the group.
- Value the property following the valuation process.
- Use this value to calculate the unimproved value of the other properties in the group.
Commercial, rural and residential unit properties
In the ACT there are a low number of commercial, rural and residential unit property sales available to analyse. This is because there are a small number of these types of properties in the ACT.
Valuers might not update the land values for these properties until there are enough sales available. This can be up to 2 or 3 years. Changes in value of these properties can vary more than with single residential properties.
How the high value of vacant land affects unimproved values
In older established areas vacant unimproved properties can be scarce. The demand for them often leads to a high sale price. This will have little effect on overall unimproved values because the valuation process will also include sales of many improved properties.
Supplementary valuations
A land valuation may occur outside the annual valuation period, called a ‘supplementary valuation’. This happens when a new parcel of land is created, or if a property’s lease is changed.
After a supplementary valuation, the ACT Revenue Office will send a new valuation notice to the property owner. The new valuation starts on the date shown on the notice.
If you disagree with your land valuation
If you believe your property's latest unimproved value is incorrect, you can object to the land valuation.
Changes in ACT land value (2023 – 2024)
Residential unimproved values
Overall, there has been little change in residential unimproved property values in the ACT from 2023 to 2024 (0.1 per cent increase). There has been some variability at the suburb level which resulted in growth in the unimproved values of Belconnen and Molonglo. The increase in these districts has been less than 2 per cent. There has been a reduction in the unimproved values in Woden and Weston Creek. The overall reduction in both districts has been modest at 1.4 per cent and 3.6 per cent respectively.
The average unimproved value (AUV) has increased by 7.8 per cent across the Territory in 2024. The increase is driven by the large increase in sale prices following the COVID pandemic which were reflected in the 2022 unimproved values. Rating factors have been adjusted to ensure that rates revenue on average does not increase by more than 3.75 per cent, consistent with the Government’s tax reform program.
ACT residential unimproved values by district
| District Name | 2023 Unimproved Value ($) | 2024 Unimproved Value ($) | UV Change ($) | UV Change (%) | 2023 Average Unimproved Value** ($) | 2024 Average Unimproved Value** ($) | AUV Change ($) | AUV Change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belconnen | 18,167,150,098 | 18,500,616,551 | 333,466,453 | 1.8 | 15,392,154,322 | 16,539,837,281 | 1,147,682,959 | 7.5 |
| Canberra Central | 25,125,140,643 | 25,281,478,563 | 156,337,920 | 0.6 | 20,968,496,958 | 22,610,436,159 | 1,641,939,201 | 7.8 |
| Gungahlin | 13,592,262,085 | 13,612,407,277 | 20,145,192 | 0.1 | 10,934,470,866 | 11,888,485,166 | 954,014,300 | 8.7 |
| Molonglo Valley | 2,492,443,958 | 2,530,905,932 | 38,461,974 | 1.5 | 2,131,926,518 | 2,248,276,508 | 116,349,990 | 5.5 |
| Tuggeranong | 14,434,518,265 | 14,462,145,272 | 27,627,007 | 0.2 | 11,982,616,301 | 12,898,071,180 | 915,454,879 | 7.6 |
| Ungrouped* | 209,355,380 | 210,894,400 | 1,539,020 | 0.7 | 164,479,694 | 180,296,907 | 15,817,213 | 9.6 |
| Weston Creek | 5,627,865,231 | 5,549,023,228 | -78,842,003 | -1.4 | 4,641,551,322 | 5,016,581,220 | 375,029,898 | 8.1 |
| Woden Valley | 10,192,818,573 | 9,823,096,549 | -369,722,024 | -3.6 | 8,365,313,440 | 9,017,809,071 | 652,495,631 | 7.8 |
| Total Act Residential Properties | 89,841,554,233 | 89,970,567,772 | 129,013,539 | 0.1 | 74,581,009,421 | 80,399,793,492 | 5,818,784,071 | 7.8 |
* Includes Hall, Pialligo, Paddy’s River, Jerrabomberra, Majura, Stromlo, Symonston, Tharwa, Uriarra Village.
** Average unimproved value (AUV) is the average of unimproved values (UV) over the last 5 years.
Individual residential property values can be found at the Unimproved value register.
Commercial unimproved values
Commercial property sales data has not supported an overall change in commercial unimproved values across the Territory. This year a regrading project was finalised for Belconnen with unimproved values increasing by 36.3 per cent. Unimproved values in the Belconnen services area are now in alignment with those in Fyshwick, Phillip, Mitchell and Hume where regrading projects were undertaken in 2021 and 2022. For 2025, there will be a focus on regrading properties in ACT Town Centres.
The average unimproved value (AUV) has increased by 3.3 per cent across the Territory in 2024. Rates revenue on average does not increase by more than 3.75 per cent consistent with the Government’s tax reform program.
ACT commercial unimproved values by commercial location
| Commercial Location | 2023 Unimproved Value ($) | 2024 Unimproved Value ($) | UV Change ($) | UV Change (%) | 2023 Average Unimproved Value** ($) | 2024 Average Unimproved Value** ($) | AUV Change ($) | AUV Change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barton | 264,733,020 | 264,728,040 | -4,980 | 0.0 | 239,806,568 | 251,870,921 | 12,064,353 | 5.0 |
| Beard | 38,829,992 | 38,829,992 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 38,178,185 | 38,829,992 | 651,807 | 1.7 |
| Belconnen | 292,592,345 | 398,712,634 | 106,120,289 | 36.3 | 283,912,543 | 309,242,995 | 25,330,452 | 8.9 |
| Braddon | 253,113,170 | 252,804,251 | -308,919 | -0.1 | 247,403,001 | 250,018,710 | 2,615,709 | 1.1 |
| City | 870,663,638 | 869,845,232 | -818,406 | -0.1 | 855,597,617 | 865,253,813 | 9,656,196 | 1.1 |
| Deakin | 140,203,996 | 141,144,996 | 941,000 | 0.7 | 132,259,707 | 136,449,751 | 4,190,044 | 3.2 |
| Dickson | 149,220,053 | 148,952,480 | -267,573 | -0.2 | 147,270,813 | 149,077,100 | 1,806,287 | 1.2 |
| Fyshwick | 712,290,996 | 709,991,496 | -2,299,500 | -0.3 | 622,385,651 | 652,306,061 | 29,920,410 | 4.8 |
| Greenway | 159,291,203 | 159,291,703 | 500 | 0.0 | 159,065,939 | 159,185,856 | 119,917 | 0.1 |
| Griffith | 134,055,132 | 134,055,288 | 156 | 0.0 | 129,399,353 | 130,970,297 | 1,570,944 | 1.2 |
| Gungahlin | 175,882,467 | 168,774,466 | -7,108,001 | -4.0 | 168,294,407 | 170,100,125 | 1,805,718 | 1.1 |
| Hume | 256,602,000 | 256,602,000 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 244,448,984 | 251,835,776 | 7,386,792 | 3.0 |
| Kingston | 123,855,422 | 123,793,909 | -61,513 | 0.0 | 105,192,095 | 114,935,425 | 9,743,330 | 9.3 |
| Mitchell | 212,137,000 | 212,137,000 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 194,940,127 | 205,024,310 | 10,084,183 | 5.2 |
| Others* | 1,382,349,770 | 1,389,566,207 | 7,216,437 | 0.5 | 1,251,268,553 | 1,299,771,742 | 48,503,189 | 3.9 |
| Phillip | 387,288,269 | 387,688,465 | 400,196 | 0.1 | 377,217,713 | 385,326,607 | 8,108,894 | 2.1 |
| Total Act Commercial Properties | 5,553,108,473 | 5,656,918,159 | 103,809,686 | 1.9 | 5,196,641,256 | 5,370,199,481 | 173,558,225 | 3.3 |
* Includes local centres and other commercial properties.
** Average unimproved value (AUV) is the average of unimproved values (UV) over the last 5 years.
Individual commercial property values can be found at the Unimproved value register.
Rural unimproved values
In 2023, rural unimproved values increased significantly following a three-year review of sales of rural properties. For 2024, rural unimproved values are largely unchanged. Rating factors have been adjusted so revenue on average does not increase by more than 3.75 per cent.
Individual rural property values can be found at the Unimproved value register.