Property market getting back to normal after Cyclone Debbie.
Luxury properties are selling in the Whitsundays with local and interstate buyers paying more than $52 million in the past 12 months for seven prestige properties. Principal of Ray White Whitsunday Mark Beale said the town is nearly back to normal after Cyclone Debbie and that $1.3 billion of insurance money pumped into the region had a very positive effect.
“Not too long ago there were a lot of high-end homes for sale and they had been for sale for quite some time, but you can feel there’s a confidence in the air now,’ he said. “We will see more high-end buyers come to the Whitsundays and we will see more larger boats, in particular super yachts over 200ft long, which put millions into the local economy from servicing to provisioning. “There are a lot of new estates and new houses getting built and the population is growing very well.”
Mr Beale said there’d been a lot of tradespeople in the region completing work and they would be around for another six months, which was further fuelling the rental market. “Value for money, you can still get a two-bedroom apartment for around $150,000 and get $250-$300 per week rent. “These units pre-GFC were selling for $250,000 to $280,000. “My prediction is that investors from Sydney and Melbourne will continue to see excellent return on investment (ROI) and purchase these, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they were at $200,000 soon.”
Mr Beale said he was cautiously optimistic about the outlook for 2019. “The value-for-money equation is still very good but we are still nowhere back to pre-GFC prices,” he said.“The rental vacancy rate of around three per cent is healthy and with mining picking up we will see more mining families choose to live here while one partner commutes to work,” he said.
“High-end buyers love the anonymity of Airlie Beach. “They can wear thongs, shorts and a singlet and no one cares. “They can easily fly in with or without their friends, stay at their luxury property and go out on their boats for the day around the islands and reef.” Ray White Whitsunday has been awarded ‘best customer service’ in the Ray White network for the past two years.
LUXURY PROPERTIES SOLD
■ $14m – Mandalay House, Airlie Beach
■ $13m – 4/383 Mandalay Rd, Mandalay
■ $5m – Heaven’s Gate, 860 Gloucester Ave, Whitsunday
■ $7.08m – Villa Botanica – 119B Botanica Drive, Woodwark
■ $7.5m – 1 Oceanview Ave, Airlie Beach
■ $3.4m – 371 Mandalay Rd, Mandalay
■ $1.65m – 305 Mandalay Rd, Mandalay
DAYS ON THE
MARKET BY
SUBURB
■ Crystal Brook 319 days
■ Cannon Valley 271 days
■ Beach 268 days
■ Gregory River 182 days
■ Mount Marlow 154 days
■ Collinsville 135 days
■ Jubilee Pocket 112 days
(Source: CoreLogic)
Source: Mackay Mercury.
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