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Housing, property and land

Property valuations

On this page:

What a property valuation is
How a property's value is calculated
What property valuation is used for
How to find your property's valuation
Notional value
Valuation statistics
Searching for a historical property valuation

What a property valuation is

Every year the Valuer-General re-values every property in South Australia. This determines the site value and capital value. These are used to calculate the rates and taxes charged for each property.

All properties sold throughout the state are analysed to determine if there has been any movement in the property market over the year.

A database of all properties in the state is maintained from a range of sources - eg development approvals given by local councils and property inspection programs. This database includes information about:

land use - eg residential, commercial or industrial
physical details about the land - eg building size, construction and condition.

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How a property's value is calculated

Property values are calculated by comparing data for your property to that of similar properties that have been sold, with adjustments made for any differences. These are reviewed annually and your property value may change from year to year.

This annual revaluation reflects:

changes in the property market based on the sale of properties over the year
any new developments made to the property - eg an extension.

Rural property values are assessed based on the sale of properties in the same area or in comparable areas. A range of factors are taken into consideration when comparing rural properties, including:

the break-up of land types
yields or stocking rates
rainfall averages
water systems.

Commercial and industrial property values are based on the analysis of sales and rental data. Improvements, both those fixed to the land and made to the land, are included in the assessment of the property's capital value. Items not fixed to the land - eg machinery, and the value of the business are not included.

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What property valuation is used for

These values are used by statutory authorities to determine the amount of rates and taxes to be charged. The authorities who use this information are:

SA Water for water and sewerage rates
Revenue SA for the emergency services levy and land tax where applicable
local councils for council rates.

The site value and capital value of the property can be used to calculate these charges. To find out which is being used to calculate your rates and taxes you can contact the relevant authority directly.

Property valuations may also be used to determine the rent for public housing and community housing tenants.

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How to find your property's valuation

To find out your property's value:

look on a bill from a statutory authority - eg council rates notice
contact the Land Services Group (LSG)
use PropertyAssist online for a fee.

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Notional value

A notional value is the value of the property based on its actual use rather than the highest and best potential use.

An example of this would be if an owner’s main place of residence is located on a large parcel of land that would be suitable for subdivision. The land’s highest and best potential use could be to develop a group of units on the land. The value for the potential of the land to be subdivided would be ignored.

If your property is your main place of residence or is used for primary production you could be eligible to have your property assessed at its notional value. There is an application (PDF 41KB) process and additional information (PDF 36KB) is available to assist.

For more information or an alternative version of these documents contact the State Valuation Office.

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Valuation statistics

Site and capital values determined annually for the whole state from 1986 until 2012 are displayed in this graph (JPG 135KB).

As of 30th June 2012, the total site value for the state was $202 billion and the total capital value for the state was $344 billion.

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Searching for a historical property valuation

Historical property valuation records are available to the public for a fee from the State Valuation Office.

Nominate the financial years you are searching over. In addition either the property’s address or the certificate of title reference for the property is required.

Payment can be made by: