North Coast versus South Coast – November 2004
Years ago, it was the great Social Summer Divide.
Did you holiday on the north coast, where the sun was more likely to shine or head to the more isolated south coast where the prices were cheaper?
“It used to be a bit of a snobs thing to go to the north coast – it usually meant you were from the north shore,” says Bermagui Real Estate principal Luke Casaceli.
These days, real estate experts are saying the great property boom of 2001 to 2003 has forced people to discover the beauty of the NSW south coast and the region has lost its ‘second best’ stigma.
“The north coast was traditionally where people went first, but because prices went up so quickly there, they started looking on the south coast,” explains Macquarie Bank’s head of property research Rod Cornish.
“Before this sudden rise in prices, people didn’t really look to the south coast but now that they have, it is easily as popular.”
Property prices across Australia – but especially in beachside locations – have doubled in many cases, and have positively skyrocketed in others between 2001 and 2003.
Ray White Narooma principal Greg Burbridge says he just sold a block of land in the south coast town for $189,000 that he could not sell in 1999 for $30,000.
“Things around here, especially land, went up by 500 per cent from 2001. Sure, things are slower now but everything sells provided the price is right,” he says.
“Things down south were very cheap before the boom, so I think the prices had a lot further to rise.”
THE APPEAL OF THE SOUTH
With hectares of national park, unspoilt waterways and little villages dotted with everything from 1950s fibro cottages to swanky architect-designed beachfronts, the south coast is calmer and quieter than its rowdy north coast cousin.
“The south is just very scenic,” explains Luke Casaceli, who moved south earlier this year after spending years living in Sydney’s Cronulla.
“Sure, you miss the good restaurants but there are nice places in Narooma and it’s just beautiful when you come over this little one-lane bridge over Wallaga Lake - everything is just so unspoilt.”
The further the distance from Sydney, the cheaper the house prices.
Burbridge says a basic brick veneer house around Narooma or the surrounding villages of Bermagui, Tathra and Tuross was around $120,000 before the 2001 boom and today it’s just upwards of $260,000.
“The beachfronts are good value, I sold an old house on 1300 square metres of beachfront in Narooma for $555,000 this year – if that was around Jervis Bay it would have cost at least double that,” he says.
Ray White South Coast Zone co-ordinator Leigh Stewart says today’s market is tougher than this time last year, and prices have come back slightly in most coastal markets.
“Things around Kiama and the Illawarra are still performing solidly because they benefit from the infrastructure of the universities and the facilities of Wollongong,” he says.
Dougmal First National agent Sue Spence says empty nesters from Sydney are still snapping up properties in the beachside village of Kiama, with million-dollar-plus sales achieved even in today’s tougher market.
“I would say prices have dropped by around 11 per cent but the Sydney to Kiama market is fairly steady, with just about all of the properties being purchased as a rural retreat or second home,” she says.
Some villages remain standout performers, especially the little bayside beach of Hyams which proudly proclaims it has the whitest sand in the world.
Hyams Beach Real Estate principal Chris Alison says houses start in the $700,000 price range in Hyams Beach, which is double that of the surrounding Jervis Bay villages of Huskisson and Vincentia.
“In 2000, you could have bought a nice house here for $300,000 to $350,000 and now you can’t get much for under $800,000,” he says.
Cornish says beachside villages that restrict commercial development and retain a “community atmosphere” are destined to hold their values in this stage of the market cycle.
“No-one wants to leave suburbia in the city to live in suburbia by the beach – they want the village atmosphere and the sense of community,” he says.
VIEW OF THE NORTH
The coastal strip north of Sydney is long and attracts more tourists than the south coast.
The Bureau of Tourism Research says Australians took 3.466 million trips to the north coast of NSW for the year to June 2004, compared to 2.594 million trips to the south coast.
PRDnationwide Laurieton principal Paul Hancox says the Camden Haven area near Port Macquarie has always attracted workers who want a budget holiday – and those workers are now choosing to retire to the area.
“I have done my research on this, and people from Greystanes, Bankstown, Punchbowl and Penrith who came here for years on holidays end up buying here when they want to retire,” he says.
Australian Property Monitors research director Louis Christopher says the best coastal villages to invest in will be those that attract holidaymakers, particularly those to the north.
“If a town gets a seasonal influx of tourists for summer, it creates more opportunities for property investment,” he says.
The beachside suburbs around Coffs Harbour have enjoyed spectacular price rises, especially in suburbs like Sandy Beach and Emerald Beach.
Crown Property Sales agent Mark Peel says the coastal strip between Coffs and Woolgoolga boomed as locals started upgrading to the beachside areas, Sydneysiders started fleeing high city prices and farmers from wealthy inland areas decided to buy coastal retreats.
“The market has definitely come back but some areas are still getting boom time prices,” he says.
“We get a lot of Sydney buyers now saying that the prices here are the same as in Sydney, so they are doing a lot more homework.”
Cornish says the north coast regional towns like Newcastle and Coffs Harbour boomed in line with other areas of Australia, but the north coast areas most destined to benefit from the next, slow-growth phase of the property cycle will be within two or three hours drive of Sydney or Brisbane.
“I think places like Coffs went up too quickly and benefited from farmers buying on the coast and those areas that are further from capital cities will probably have the slowest growth over the next stage of the property cycle,” he says.
Ray White Port Stephens principal George Baker says the Sydney buyer and holiday maker has always been attracted to Port Stephens “because we have three and a half times the amount of waterways of Sydney”.
“But I have to say, we’ve been missing the Sydney buyer here for 10 months so I hope you remind them how beautiful it is here and send them up to buy some property,” he says.
|
12 months to September 2003 |
12 months to September 2004 |
12 months % Change |
|||
Number Sold |
Median Price |
Number Sold |
Median Price |
|||
Batemans Bay |
House |
45 |
$265,000 |
21 |
$345,000 |
30.2% |
Unit |
61 |
$190,000 |
25 |
$228,000 |
20.0% |
|
Bega |
House |
126 |
$156,000 |
83 |
$195,000 |
25.0% |
Unit |
14 |
$111,000 |
2 |
snr |
snr |
|
Byron Bay |
House |
77 |
$557,000 |
49 |
$615,000 |
10.4% |
Unit |
122 |
$360,750 |
84 |
$367,500 |
1.9% |
|
Eden |
House |
61 |
$185,000 |
37 |
$290,000 |
56.8% |
Unit |
17 |
$137,000 |
15 |
$140,000 |
2.2% |
|
Forster |
House |
341 |
$325,000 |
171 |
$399,000 |
22.8% |
Unit |
235 |
$266,500 |
99 |
$308,000 |
15.6% |
|
Kiama |
House |
113 |
$495,000 |
62 |
$520,000 |
5.1% |
Unit |
83 |
$325,000 |
36 |
$380,000 |
16.9% |
|
Kingscliff |
House |
77 |
$410,000 |
34 |
$437,500 |
6.7% |
Unit |
137 |
$300,000 |
56 |
$375,000 |
25.0% |
|
Merimbula |
House |
95 |
$320,000 |
59 |
$385,000 |
20.3% |
Unit |
164 |
$175,000 |
100 |
$241,250 |
37.9% |
|
Mollymook |
House |
29 |
$365,000 |
21 |
$400,000 |
9.6% |
Unit |
8 |
snr |
2 |
snr |
snr |
|
Narooma |
House |
51 |
$260,000 |
34 |
$259,500 |
-0.2% |
Unit |
44 |
$193,050 |
18 |
$276,300 |
43.1% |
|
Old Bar |
House |
73 |
$270,000 |
46 |
$320,000 |
18.5% |
Unit |
75 |
$225,000 |
17 |
$280,000 |
24.4% |
|
Pacific Palms |
House |
3 |
snr |
4 |
snr |
snr |
Unit |
1 |
snr |
0 |
snr |
snr |
|
Port Macquarie |
House |
980 |
$316,000 |
652 |
$360,500 |
14.1% |
Unit |
735 |
$252,500 |
444 |
$286,500 |
13.5% |
|
Scotts Head |
House |
20 |
$237,500 |
14 |
$322,500 |
35.8% |
Unit |
5 |
snr |
4 |
snr |
snr |
|
Tathra |
House |
32 |
$352,500 |
14 |
$328,000 |
-7.0% |
Unit |
9 |
snr |
8 |
snr |
snr |
|
Tuncurry |
House |
115 |
$329,000 |
54 |
$404,500 |
22.9% |
Unit |
153 |
$230,000 |
52 |
$289,000 |
25.7% |
|
Ulladulla |
House |
183 |
$309,500 |
94 |
$342,500 |
10.7% |
Unit |
40 |
$242,500 |
16 |
$325,000 |
34.0% |
|
Yamba |
House |
150 |
$310,000 |
103 |
$355,000 |
14.5% |
Unit |
107 |
$287,578 |
30 |
$288,000 |
0.1% |
|
