Property Valuations in Sydney

Property valuations across Greater Sydney

Greater Sydney is split across many local councils, from the City of Sydney and the City of Parramatta to Blacktown, Canterbury-Bankstown, the Northern Beaches, Sutherland Shire, Liverpool, Penrith and Campbelltown. Whichever council area the home is in, a valuation compares it with sales of comparable homes nearby.

There is no shopfront to visit. For an inspected valuation the valuer visits the property. A desktop assessment is prepared from sales evidence, records and photos without a visit. Everything else happens online and by phone.

Houses, terraces and strata apartments

Sydney has freestanding houses, older terraces, townhouses and apartments side by side. For an apartment or townhouse in a strata scheme, the valuer looks at the lot and what comes with it, such as a car space or storage, along with the building and sales of comparable lots nearby. Prestige, heritage-listed and unusual homes take more evidence, so they receive a fixed quote before any work starts.

Your NSW land value is not a market valuation

Each year the NSW Valuer General values land across the state as at 1 July. That land value is the market value of the land only, without the house or other buildings on it. It is set from sales evidence for your area, for land tax and council rates, not for a purpose such as a transfer or capital gains tax.

So the land value on your notice answers a different question from a property valuation. If you think the land value is wrong, the Valuer General accepts objections, generally within 60 days of the notice. A market valuation covers the land and the home together, at the date you choose.

Transferring property within the family

Transfer duty in NSW is administered by Revenue NSW. Under section 21 of the Duties Act 1997, duty is generally charged on the greater of the price paid and the property’s unencumbered value. If a Sydney property is transferred to a family member, a family trust or a company for less than market value, duty is generally worked out on market value unless an exemption applies, and Revenue NSW can ask for evidence of that value.

An independent valuation at the date of the transfer is one way to provide it. Revenue NSW says a formal valuation must be by a suitably qualified person and must indicate that an inspection was undertaken, so a desktop assessment does not suit this purpose. Stamp duty valuations are quoted individually: contact us with the details, and we tell you in writing, before anything is agreed, whether we can take the work on.

The same transfer can matter for capital gains tax, because a sale to someone you are not dealing with at arm’s length can be treated as made at market value. See CGT valuations.

Other reasons Sydney owners ask for a valuation

• Capital gains tax: market value at a past date, such as the day a home you lived in was first rented out. See retrospective valuations.
• SMSF: market value for the fund’s annual accounts and audit. See SMSF valuations.
• Estates: value at the date of death, for the estate’s records, distribution and tax. Probate in NSW is granted by the Supreme Court of New South Wales. See date of death valuations.
• Separation: family law property matters are heard by the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, which has registries in Sydney and Parramatta. See family law valuations.