The first valuation of property in Christchurch since the earthquakes shows that residential property values have risen by 16 percent since 2007.
The Christchurch City Council says that the review - originally due to be done in 2010 but postponed because of the earthquakes - indicates the city's total rating value has risen from $75 billion to $84 billion.
Residential property values rose by an average of 16.2 percent and commercial and rural properties by about 9 percent.
The chair of the council's finance committee, Raf Manji, says values vary widely across the city, with the creation of the residential red zone, and extensive demolitions in the central city, pushing down the overall value of those areas.
Mr Manji says that, based on the revaluation, the average Christchurch home has a rating value of $455,000, which translates into an annual rates bill of just over $2000.
The Quotable Value review does not take earthquake damage into account: the figures are based on the assumption that a property has been, or will be, repaired to its pre-quake state.
The council says this is the most practical method, as it isn't possible to physically inspect all 165,000 properties in the time available.
Quotable Value southern operations manager Brendon Bodger says the biggest rise has been in lower-priced properties. "If you've got for example a unit in, say, Hornby that had an old value of, say, $200,000, that could well have gone to $300,000-$350,000, which is a big percentage increase in value - whereas the higher-priced properties haven't gone up by that degree."
Mr Bodger says coastal and peninsula properties have dropped in value since 2007, reflecting a national trend.
Letters will be sent to homeowners on Wednesday and the information will go up on the council's website, but the new valuations will not have any effect on rates until July.
