RESIDENTIAL land values in the Hunter increased by 3.1 per cent in the year to July 2020, with the largest rise in Dungog where values jumped 16.2 per cent.
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The NSW Valuer General, Dr David Parker, published on Monday land values for the Hunter region, which covers the Cessnock, Dungog, Maitland, Muswellbrook, Singleton and Upper Hunter local government areas and 92,880 properties.
The total land value for the region increased by 2.3 per cent between July 1 2019 and July 1 2020, from $24 billion to $24.6 billion.
Dr Parker said property sales were the most important factor that valuers considered when determining land values.
"2020 has been a difficult year for determining land values in the aftermath of last summer's horrific bushfires, followed by the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis," Dr Parker said.
"My office has undertaken separate studies of the impact of both bushfires and COVID-19 on the property market.
"Our valuers have applied the findings of these studies to affected areas and property types where there are insufficient sales available to determine the land values."
Revenue NSW will use the land values to calculate land tax for the 2021 land tax year.
The data shows overall residential land values in the region increased by 3.1 per cent.
Dungog experienced the largest increase at 16.2 per cent, which Dr Parker said was due to increased demand locally and from Newcastle and Sydney based buyers seeking relocation.
Maitland residential values increased moderately by 4.2 per cent, due to its high level of amenity following significant infrastructure upgrades.
Steady residential land values were recorded in the other local government areas.
Overall commercial land values in the region increased slightly by 2.3 per cent, but Dungog was again an exception and increased by 6.5 per cent, which Dr Parker said was driven by strong increases in nearby Clarence Town, where demand had increased markedly.
Maitland saw an increase of 6.1 per cent due to demand for business development zoned lands and bulky goods areas.
Dr Parker said decreasing land values in Cessnock (-3.8 per cent), Muswellbrook (-7.8 per cent) and Singleton (-4.4 per cent) were due to detrimental impacts from COVID-19 in some areas, with limited sales occurring.
Industrial land values increased by 3.8 per cent overall. Larger increases were experienced in Maitland at 10.6 per cent and Muswellbrook at 8.2 per cent.
Rural land values increased by 4.1 per cent.