The month in review: Sunshine Coast
By Herron Todd White
June, 2010
The residential property market on the Sunshine Coast
has continued to remain patchy. Activity can vary
significantly from month to month and week to week. At
present agents report that there has been a significant
slowdown in most sectors since the latest interest rate
rise.
Certainly the most active purchasers within the current
climate are owner-occupiers. Within the prestige markets,
a large portion of these purchasers are moving to the coast
and have the ability to manage their business interests
remotely. In the middle sector of the market place, they
still tend to be second and third home buyers upgrading.
The first home-buyers have basically dropped out of the
marketplace, given decreasing affordability and interest
rate increases.
With the opening up of mines and coal seam gas in the
Surat Basin, a big driver in the owner occupied sector of
the market is the transient workforce. Some early stats
indicate that a significant portion of the Sunshine Coast
workforce is now employed in the mining sector (30% to
35%). This has helped to inject some much-needed cash
into the local economy.
Activity by investors on the Sunshine Coast has also
dried up with the unit market remaining subdued. This
is expected to continue for the foreseeable future until
economic confidence and activity can improve. When
this is, is anyone’s guess.
What is common with all buyers, whether they be owneroccupiers
or investors, is that they are only interested
in purchasing a property at what they consider to be a ‘perceived good buy’. This includes properties that have
had significant reductions in list prices and/or a decline in values below their previous purchase prices. If this is not
present then buyers can move on to the next property, as
there is plenty on the market.
|
