This was revealed last week when NSW Valuer General Philip Western issued about 1990 Notices of Valuation to landholders across the LGA.

Bombala real estate agent Stewart Lee, of Stewart Lee and Co Rural Marketing, told the Bombala Times he believed council would be scrutinising the figures  closely.

“Council is always under pressure to provide additional services so they’ll be looking very closely at the Valuer General’s figures,” Mr Lee said yesterday.

Typical values ranged from $1.44 million for 11,606 hectares of rural land on Cathcart Road, Bombala, to $67,100 for 3794 square metres of residential land in Iris Street and $42,500 for a 411 square metre commercial site in Maybe Street.

Land value is the value of the land only and does not include the value of the home or other improvements.

Mr Western said land values were only one factor considered by councils when determining rates.

“Changes in land values don’t necessarily lead to similar changes in rates,” he said.

“Each council develops a revenue policy to use in the calculation of rates and charges to fund services for the community.”

Mr Western said property sales were the most important factor considered when determining land values.

Real estate analysis in the Bombala LGA had been comprehensive during the course of the 2013 valuation program with 18 residential, two commercial and 17 rural sales analysed.

“In the three-year period since landholders in the Bombala LGA were issued with Notices of Valuation, the land value of residential and commercial property has generally remained steady while land values for industrial properties have generally shown a slight increase,” he said.

“Rural and rural residential land values have generally been steady and we’ve seen stable demand for quality grazing lands, rural residential properties located around Bombala and for rural residential properties to the north-east in the Creewah and Cathcart areas.

“Village land values have generally remained steady since the notices were last issued with the exception of some properties in Craigie which have shown a moderate to strong increase in land value,” he said.

Mr Lee said the Valuer General’s figures were a more realistic reflection of the market than they were several years ago when they tended to be conservative.

“Some years ago the valuations were about half, now they are much closer to the true value of the market,” he said.

Mr Lee said there were “good inquiries” about solid rural properties in the Bombala LGA, whereas the housing market was softer.

Commercial properties rose in value in about 2000 but had remained steady since, he said.

He noted a recent rise in business confidence in the town, coming on the tail of improved economic data from overseas. 

“After the Global Financial Crash (GFC) in 2008 things were pretty volatile – up and down – but they appear to be more steady now and hopefully will be up in 2014,” he said.