Local land values held steady over the past year, the latest data from the NSW Valuer General reveals. Residential, commercial, industrial and rural land values all held their value from July 2023 to July 2024, with the reporting describing the market's resilience. The newly-established Goldridge Estate was one area to see an increase in value, with the biggest jump 6.6 per cent to $162,000 for a typical property in Federation Boulevard. Commercial land values, industrial land values and rural land values all remained steady from July 2023 to July 2024. The rural residential market in Forbes experienced a decrease in market value during the 2024 base date. Rural residential properties require a significant capital investment and are expensive to buy for investment purposes. This decline is attributed to weakened demand resulting from a slowing economy and increased inflation, resulting in a declined market. "The total land value for regional NSW experienced a combined increase of 2.7% across all property types from $329 billion to $338 billion between 1 July 2023 and 1 July 2024," Ms Dale said. Property sales are the most important factor valuers consider when determining land values. Regional industrial land values experienced the highest growth across property categories, with a 9.9 per cent average increase. Warrumbungle (92.4%) saw the largest increase in industrial land values, as well as Greater Hume (61%) and Tamworth Regional (41.5%). “The strong growth in Warrumbungle has been attributed to the strong rural economy that supports the industrial market in Coonabarabran,” Ms Dale said. “Greater Hume also experienced a very strong increase on the back of the town’s growing population and its proximity to the larger Albury-Wodonga centre, which is driving demand, as seen in the Jindera industrial estate.” Residential land values across regional NSW saw a 2.7 per cent increase on average. Cobar (45.4%) experienced the strongest growth, driven by a strong performing economy, a thriving local minerals and critical minerals mining sector and support from the visitor economy. Gilgandra (37.6%), Balranald (35.9%) and Bogan (29.3%) also saw very strong increases. “The state’s constrained housing supply and resulting population shifts continue to support increases in residential land values across western NSW as people look for more affordable and available housing,” Ms Dale said. “It’ll be interesting to see if this trend continues over the longer term and whether the ‘tree change’ remains a trend in the future,” Ms Dale said. “Major government projects have also supported strong growth, as seen with the increase in residential land values for Gilgandra, with the Inland Rail construction kicking off.” Overall, land values across NSW increased by 6.4 per cent, from $2.8 trillion to $2.98 trillion. The new land values were assessed following analysis of more than 54,000 property sales. The new land values will be used by Revenue NSW to calculate land tax for the 2025 land tax year for landowners subject to land tax. Registered land tax clients will receive their land tax assessment from Revenue NSW starting January 2025. For more information on land tax, visit revenue.nsw.gov.au. Around our region: Land values remained steady in Cowra, had a one per cent increase based on residential value in Parkes, The Cabonne shire saw a four per cent increase in residential land value, with the biggest increases in parts of Manildra and Cudal as well as Canowindra. Commercial land in Cabonne also increased by an over 5.5 per cent with increases in Molong and Canowindra flagged. Weddin saw a 4.8 per cent overall increase with a significant 10.8 per cent increase in residential land values.
