Every appraisal Team Howe runs is built on a PSM (price per square metre) methodology. Here's what that means, and why we show the workings.
Most appraisals start with three recent sales and an opinion. PSM starts with every comparable sale in your suburb, separated into land value per square metre and build value per square metre, outliers stripped, adjusted for the factors that actually move price on the Lower North Shore: aspect, renovation, zoning, parking, floor plan. The number at the end is the one I back. The workings come with it.
In plain English. We measure the land and the build at separate per-square-metre rates because they trade differently. A renovated house on a small block and an unrenovated house on a larger block can land at the same total price — but the maths underneath is completely different, and so is the campaign that will sell each one well. PSM splits the two so you know exactly what's driving your number. It's an AI-assisted methodology built on actual recent sale data — not opinion, not gut feel, not a number designed to win the listing.
Sample PSM Appraisal Output — address redacted
| Internal (sqm) | 365 |
| Land (sqm) | 765 |
| Year built | 2018 |
| Configuration | Freestanding |
| Condition | Good |
| Int : Land ratio | 47.7% |
| Construction type | Project Home |
| PSM internal — median | $23,910 |
| PSM land — median | $8,435 |
| Build year factor | 1.050 |
| Int : Land ratio factor | 0.960 |
| Construction factor | 0.920 |
| Combined adjustment (capped) | 0.900 |
| Selected blend (70/30 Int/Land) | $7,780,879 |
AI-assisted price-per-square-metre modelling. Land PSM and internal PSM separated. Outliers detected and stripped. Adjustments applied for aspect, renovation status, zoning, parking and configuration. The number is defensible because the model is.
Most agents read their own listings. We track twenty Lower North Shore suburbs every day — what's listed, what's sold, what's pulled, what cleared at auction, what passed in. The Snapshot newsletter is the public side of that work; the appraisals are the private side.
88% of completed Team Howe sales go to auction. That's not by accident — it's a deliberate strategy in a price bracket where the buyers exist, the competition is real, and the auction room is where the honest market price is discovered.
Some agents win the listing with a number, then condition the vendor down twelve weeks later. The brand here is built on not doing that. The appraisal you receive is the range I'll back into the campaign. Same number on day one as day sixty.
When you book an appraisal with Team Howe, you'll see the PSM workings for your property, the comparable sales used, the adjustment factors applied, the recommended price range, and the campaign strategy I'd run. Nothing is hidden in the back office. If you want to push back on a comparable, you can — that's the conversation we want to have.