A $22 million Sunshine Beach mansion at 21-23 Webb Road is the latest in a growing line of luxury estates being snapped up by cashed-up buyers zeroing in on local postcodes.
The deal, sealed this week by Tom Offermann Real Estate, marked a Sunshine Coast record sale.
The northern suburbs of Sunshine Beach and Sunrise Beach are starring, with Sunrise Beach median house prices up 45 per cent in five years.
The current trend of anonymous buyers, often from southern states or overseas, laying down big bucks on elite homes and land parcels, shows no sign of stopping.
Tennis star Pat Rafter’s Sunshine Beach home, a record listing at $18 million which reportedly sold for more than $14 million, only held the regional record for a few weeks before it was eclipsed by this week’s $22 million deal.
Tom Offermann Real Estate principal Tom Offermann said supply was tight in the north and Noosa was attracting buyers “from across the nation and the globe”, creating strong competition from “very financially capable people” for blue-chip property.
He said many were now seeing Noosa as a northern suburb of Brisbane and even Sydney, “even Toorak in shorts for Melburnians”, based on the swathes of investors and sea-changers flocking to the market.
Mr Offermann said expats from London, Dubai, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore had all been “very active” in the past 12 months.
He’s even established a Brisbane-based agent, to further cater to interest from outside the Sunshine Coast region.
“Running an agency with myriad clients from all over the world creates different challenges compared to typical domestic agency, but it’s always exciting, working with marketing strategies to benefit our clientele, wherever they’re located in the world,” Mr Offermann said.
While the headline-grabbing homes are largely situated in the northern areas, there is plenty of strength in the central Sunshine Coast market according to long-time agent Brett Graham.
The director of six Ray White offices has been in the industry for more than 30 years.
He said a sluggish start to January, expected as families got back into routines, had been replaced by a rampant market which he said had “escalated dramatically”.
He said there was plenty of market movement from Caloundra all the way to Noosa and across a number of price ranges, from the $300,000-plus market to the high-end sales.
Importantly Mr Graham said they were experiencing a lot of strength in the $550,000-$700,000 range, which he said was a true indicator of a market’s health, as it was the “mum and dad” buyers clearly satisfied with their jobs, income and other factors, prepared to move on established, family homes.
Mr Graham didn’t believe stock was in as short supply, but that it was simply selling much more quickly.
“We’re listing the same amount of stock every month,” he said.
“The second-hand market is quite strong.”
Mr Graham said the maturing of suburbs like Sippy Downs and Brightwater (Mountain Creek), from “childhood” suburbs into adolescence and adulthood had driven real strength in those markets, while Buderim continued to perform well.
He believed the high-end buyers were being attracted to the region’s lifestyle.
originally Published: www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au