Court of Appeal decision in Esperia illuminates the application step in Adams

Of interest to valuers undertaking expert witness reports for litigation, the Court of Appeal’s recent decision in Valuer General of NSW v Esperia Court Pty Ltd [2026] NSWCA 30 illuminates the long-standing decision on the comparable sales method of valuation in Adams v Valuer General [2014] NSWLEC 1005.

In Adams, a four-step process was outlined for the accumulation, analysis, adjustment and application of comparable sales, with the application step described as:

The application of those potentially genuinely comparable sales to the subject property seeks to determine the value of the subject property through a consideration of the relevance (such as being limited, indirect or direct) of the unitary rate derived from those adjusted comparable sales relative to the subject. (56)

While all comparable sales evidence may be considered relevant and so cannot be disregarded, the level of relevance of different comparable sales to the subject property may vary leading to the valuer attributing differing weight to different comparable sales. (57)

The decision in Esperia now adds the median and mean of the adjusted comparable sales as statistical information about the data set (71) to which the valuer may have regard in forming an opinion of value (to inform, but not to fix (5(c)). Significantly, the Court of Appeal decision is not authority for adopting either the median, mean or average of both as an opinion of value.

Given the emphasis by the Courts on valuers providing an explicit and transparent explanation of how they derived their opinion of value, the Court of Appeal’s decision in Esperia should be welcomed by valuers.

Sovereign Valuations specialises in expert witness valuations for litigation matters and can be contacted on 1300 710 000 or admin@sovereignvaluations.com.au for further information.