{"id":41278,"date":"2022-12-22T10:13:55","date_gmt":"2022-12-21T21:13:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/propertynoise.co.nz\/au\/?p=41278"},"modified":"2022-12-22T10:13:55","modified_gmt":"2022-12-21T21:13:55","slug":"where-to-look-for-beach-holiday-bargains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/propertynoise.co.nz\/au\/where-to-look-for-beach-holiday-bargains\/","title":{"rendered":"Where to look for beach holiday bargains"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHOTO: Living by the beach is the ‘Australian Dream’. FILE<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Marina and Chris Michailidis have got off Sydney\u2019s hamster wheel by selling their family home and moving to another seaside postcode with less stress and a better life balance.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe are empty nesters with three grown children who had come to the time in our lives where we also wanted to be mortgage-free, which we achieved by selling our Palm Beach [Sydney] property and moving north,\u201d says Marina, who now works as an administrator with the local council in Kincumber on the NSW Central Coast. Her husband, Chris, is self-employed.<\/p>\n

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Less stress and no mortgage: Marina Michailidis.\u00a0Louie Douvis<\/cite><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The couple sold last year before prices started dropping, so the move was well-timed \u2013 enabling them to pay off their mortgage and buy their new apartment outright.<\/p>\n

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Falling prices do, however, present opportunities for those wanting to buy a seaside property, as a holiday home or full-time residence. Noosa Heads and Byron Bay prices are off between 5 per cent and 10 per cent in the past 12 months, with clearance rates having slipped to 75 per cent from about 90 per cent, says Tom Offerman, principal of Tom Offerman Real Estate.<\/p>\n

Victoria\u2019s Blairgowrie, a popular seaside destination, is down by almost 9 per cent after gains of about 36 per cent over three years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThese areas have come off, just like prices in the cities,\u201d says Robert Millar, a property consultant for more than 35 years. \u201cThere are no longer the \u2018refugees\u2019 who fled the cities during COVID-19 for rural and coastal addresses. We are waiting to see where it will plateau.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buyers will pay a good price<\/h2>\n

Andrew Wilson, chief economist for property consultancy My Housing Market, says: \u201cFlat equity markets have also resulted in lower price energy and not much lift in discretionary sales.\u201d<\/p>\n

But records continue to be broken in select areas as cashed-up buyers unconcerned about rising interest rates make the most of less competition to snap up top beach properties in city and remote postcodes.<\/p>\n

In Tasmania\u2019s Binalong Bay, about 200 kilometres east of Launceston, a four-bedroom, beachfront house on 16 hectares of land recently sold for about $6 million, which is about three times the former local record.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBuyers can\u2019t get enough of really premium seaside property. It\u2019s rare but when the right property is available buyers will pay a very good price,\u201d says Heidi Howe, a director of Harcourts Real Estate in nearby St Helens.<\/p>\n

There have recently been three unconditional sales of more than $10 million in Noosa and Byron Bay, says Offerman.<\/p>\n

\u201cBuyers might be waiting for something that has unique views, or only comes around once in a generation, but the overall market has slumped,\u201d says Millar.<\/p>\n

Seaside property produced spectacular returns when interest rates were at record lows, buyers emigrated from major cities in the pandemic (particularly to Queensland) and government grants encouraged first home buyers and renovators.<\/p>\n

Prices of popular seaside postcodes on the NSW Central Coast and Victoria\u2019s coastline rose nearly 40 per cent, Queensland by more than 50 per cent, South Australia and Western Australian by more than 40 per cent, says CoreLogic, which monitors property prices.<\/p>\n

Slowing discretionary buyer demand<\/h2>\n

Months of rate rises since May have reversed the trend with postcodes posting single, or low double-digit, falls, generally higher than in capital cities, says CoreLogic.<\/p>\n

The value of borrowing by investors has slumped by about 25 per cent, having peaked at a record high of nearly $12 billion two months earlier, it adds.<\/p>\n

Weaker equity markets and reduced dividend payments have slowed demand from discretionary buyers seeking prestige seafront holiday homes, particularly along the eastern seaboard north of Sydney.<\/p>\n

The accompanying tables show the biggest winners and losers in the past three years.<\/p>\n