Jerramatta Street, in Dapto's town centre, and Murrawal Road, in the leafy coastal surrounds of Stanwell Park might not seem to have much in common.
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But, according to new data from the NSW Valuer General, properties on both streets had some of Wollongong's biggest increases in land value last year.
Land in Wollongong has increased by about $17 billion in a year and is now worth just under $65 billion.
This is an increase of nearly 35 per cent between July 2021 and July 2022, and an increase of more than 70 per cent compared to pre-pandemic 2019.
The bulk of this increase came from residential and industrial land values, the new data shows.
According to a report by Adam Hopcroft of valuing firm Walsh and Monaghan, the increases have mostly been driven by increasing demand from people looking for coastal locations within driving distance from Sydney.
"The increase in flexible working opportunities has increased demand for coastal lifestyle properties also contributed to these strong increases," he said.
"More affordable suburbs in close proximity to the M1 Princes Motorway such as Dapto, Unanderra and Berkeley have seen significant increases, as well as popular northern suburbs such as Austinmer and Stanwell Park."
In a chart showing some of the "typical" land values for the city, a piece of business zoned land in Jerramatta Street near Dapto's town centre went up by 84 per cent from $380,000 to $700,000 between 2021 and 2022.
A residential property on Murrawal Road in Stanwell Park jumped 80 per cent from $1.1 million to $1.98 million in the year.
Banksia Avenue in Windang, Hertford Street in Berkeley, Lawrence Hargrave Drive in Austinmer and Newcastle Street Cringila also recorded yearly increases above 50 per cent.
Some of the lowest increases were in Shoreline Avenue Haywards Bay (11.9%), Bligh Street in Wollongong (14.5%) and Shauna Crescent in Mount Keira (15.6 per cent).
Land value is the value of the land only, and does not include the value of a home or any other structure.
Shellharbour's total land value went up $28 per cent in 2022, to $18.4 billion, while Kiama's went up 34 per cent to $13.6 billion.
Land values are used by councils for calculating and distributing rates and by Revenue NSW for calculating land tax liability.
While an increase in land value may seem like a good thing for home owners, if their land value increased by more than other properties, it could also mean their rates go up more too.
For instance in Wollongong most ratepayers' bills include a flat base rate that everyone pays and then a variable amount (called ad valorum) based on the value of their land.
Every three years, there is a redistribution of the ad valorum amount each ratepayer has to pay, based on the value of their property compared to values across the city as a whole - meaning some people may more while others pay less.
According to the NSW Valuer General's office most councils in NSW will use the 2022 land values for rating in 2023.
They said landholders will receive a Notice of Valuation showing their land value before it is used by council for rating, with notices issued from January 2023 to give landholders time to consider their land value.
Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
