CITY VALUES
SITTING OP THE ASSESSMENT . COURT . INTERESTING EVIDENCE The Assessment Court continued its sitting on, Saturday, to hear objections to the recent valuation of city properties. Mr. W. G. Itiddell, S.M., pre«ided, and with him as assessors were Mr. H. E. Leighton (for the Valuation Department) and Mr. T. Dwan (for the City Corporation). Mr. C. P. Skerrett, K.C., with Mr. L. 0. H. Tripp, appeared for fifty-five City Council lessees and others who objected to the Government valuations of their properties, and Mr. M. Myers for the Valuation Department. .Mr. Myers continued the cross-exam-ination of Charles James Stanton Harcourt, of Harcoiirt and Co., land agents. Air. Harcourt said that in making valuations- for mortgage purposes be did not consult the Government valuation. Mr. Myers: Is it not a fact that 99 per cent, of the valuations for mortgage purposes exceed the Government valuations? '" ■;' ..:.•: Witness: Decidedly not. Mr. Myers:'ls it not a fact known to everybody in Wellington that for mortgage purposes, the'valuations are almost invariably in excess of the Government valuations? The witness replied that that was not his. experience, and he mentioned an instance in which a loan for £6000 was applied for on-a property in the Nelson district, and the owner's valuation was less than the last valuation by the Government. In answer to a question, he said that the Government valuation of Messrs. T. and W. Young's property, next to Levin and Co.'s, was £175 per foot, and that £200 per foot was being asked for it. The owners, however, were prepared.to takeless than £200. "'Mr., -Myers said that Mr. D. E. Shannon's property in. the same locality had been valued.at £175 per foot,, and £250 per foot had been asked for it. The witness replied that he had not attempted to sell it'at the latter figure. Mr. Myers'said that' Messrs. E. and W. Mills had-ten years ago paid £146 per foot for land next to the Commercial Travellers Club,' and that the present Government valuation was onlv £130. - ■...:- -"'.\ • Witness: .That shows that they paid too much Some time ; ago. 'Proceeding, in ' answer to questions, the witness said that Messrs.' Whitcombe and Tombs rental (based on the unimproved,value) was £19 per foot. I'or-: .their property in Willis Street, Messrs.; Wallace, and'Uibson paid £308 per-foot.TThis included .buildings, but about £250,w0u1d have-been'a reasonable price. The price paid for the land on which Whittaker's buildings stood (corner of Willia'and Mannors Streets)" was at tho.rate of £190 per foot. Mr.; Myers -remarked that the property next to Whittaker's buildings was Mid at -£23,000—£8000 more than the Government valuation. ■■■■ Mr. Skerrett "interjected -that that was an exchange,.- and that litigation was pending..'. ..Replying "to questions by Mr. Skerrett, the witness expressed the opinion that there bad been no appreciable nso in values, and that freehold showed a depreciation. . Vacant lots sold had realised less', than land sold in 1906. .Some _ years ago, many big firms were establishing;their headquarters here, but that epoch .could not continue as tbo firms were; all lterenow;. :-As to Messrs. Young's property,-£BO per foot was paid for it,ten years ago. The freehold sections adjoining the Supreme' Court irere sold- in 1878, and many of fhen> still lay unoccupied.' ' ; ' . . . Tho next witness, Charles M. Luke, ■who was,for years in business in Iho city, stated that 'the value of property m general-had gone back ■■ sinco 1906 .The earning power had gone back !?i> per cent. , There had long been a fictitious idea .of; the value of land, and a truer-basis was now'being reached. Sidney Kirkcaldie, managing director of the firm-, of Kirkcaldie and: Stains, said in evidence that thore had not.beon an increase in the freehold, value in' Wellington since 1906. 'There had been nothing; to justify, the increased valuation of land. The increase in thevalues qf tie country's exports was 20 per cent., but the value of land, according to the Department, had increased -45 per cent. • To Mr. Myers: Kirkcaldie and Stains asked £200 per foot for a section for which the Public Trustee had offered £150 a foot.;, The. offer had been re.fnsed. Tbey were not objecting to the present valuation, which was assessed at £130 a foot. They had secured an option over ..adjoining land at £165 a foot, but were not dealing with it. The Court then adjourned until 10 a.m. on Friday..
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19140921.2.6
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2260, 21 September 1914, Page 3
Word count
Tapeke kupu
720CITY VALUES Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2260, 21 September 1914, Page 3
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Dominion. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.