Early decline phase or are we JUST keeping our head above the surf?
Our local market is in the early decline phase overall. Okay, good, we know our frame of reference and can move on. At this point, I need to confess my love affair with the southern end – i.e., the Southern Gold Coast and Tweed Coast. Of course, all of the Gold Coast is a great place to live, but factors like natural beauty combined with less congestion and easier access make the southern end my pick.
Naturally, for some of us, factors like workplace dictate choices as owner-occupiers; e.g., the northern corridor could be an obvious choice for buyers who work in Brisbane but prefer to live on the Gold Coast, or perhaps for a working couple split between workplaces between the two. There are so many different factors influencing our varying choices; I am just looking to offer some thoughts and comments.
My preferred coastal strip that runs broadly from Burleigh down to Salt & Casuarina includes parts that have seen very substantial price growth in recent times. Palm Beach particularly springs to mind. A suburb set between two creeks, with a long, beautiful beach; that had a long-term ‘daggy’ reputation, happens also to be the Gold Coast beachside suburb with the nearest access to the motorway. Palm Beach was always a suburb ‘waiting to happen’; and it has now happened, with a vibrant cafe & restaurant vibe, multiple residential towers under construction, etc.
I recently joined a valuer’s inspection tour of an almost-complete new beachside tower. Some of the information shared with us included some resales of apartments, prior to settlement, where buyers had made up to a couple of hundred thousand dollars on apartments bought “off the plan” (at the higher end) and then sold again before having to settle – virtually ‘with the stroke of a pen’. That is fantastic for them, but now a thing of the past for the moment, I think. The allure of brand new property such as those apartments is tempting, but I believe over time houses (or at least some form of property on its own piece of land) will always be a better investment. Generally, land increases in value over time, whereas buildings decrease in value. That said, we can’t always afford a detached house.
I see a duplex as a great alternative – offering many of the advantages of a house, with very few of the downsides of strata living. If you have some $400 – $500k plus to spend, you could still snag a two-bedroom duplex in Palm Beach. Here are some examples of such recent sales:
- 1/13 Leyte Avenue, Palm Beach – sold 19 March 2019 for $435,000
- 2/22 Nineteenth Avenue, Palm Beach – sold 28 February 2019 for $490,000
Historically, our coastal value growth has marched down from north to south over time. Looking further south, I see Tugun as a suburb that still offers some good value. Aircraft noise is a factor, but the residents I’ve spoken to over the years all concur that after a little while living in Tugun, you don’t even notice it anymore.
I quite like the small pocket north of Tugun Currumbin Road that is virtually part of Currumbin. Looking even further south, it will be interesting to see how the creation of the new Tweed Valley Hospital will eventually impact property values in Kingscliff.
