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Where to find property value when coronavirus tempest passes

South East Queensland sits ready to welcome the many home seekers who are expected to head there when borders reopen.

This expansive London Road, Chandler home is being marketed by McGrath Bayside Manly agent Joseph Lordi. Picture: Supplied
This expansive London Road, Chandler home is being marketed by McGrath Bayside Manly agent Joseph Lordi. Picture: Supplied

South East Queensland sits ready to welcome the many home seekers who are expected to head there when the coronavirus tempest passes. Be it properties close to the beaches or hinterland offerings, they represent a cheaper housing option as well as a more relaxed lifestyle.

There’s value for money on Brisbane’s fringe and on the Gold Coast – both likely to prove tempting compared to what’s available in Sydney and Melbourne.

John McGrath, of McGrath Estate Agents. Picture: David Swift
John McGrath, of McGrath Estate Agents. Picture: David Swift

John McGrath, founder of McGrath Estate Agents, believes there will be a surge in demand in luxury homes away from the bustling suburbs in our major capitals when the country bounces back from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I anticipate that rural and regional luxury homes within two hours of the big cities will see a surge in demand as they did post 9/11, when many people reassessed their priorities and lifestyle became top of mind,” McGrath says.

McGrath Bayside Manly agent Joseph Lordi says that Queensland offers tremendous opportunity and value.

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“Queensland offers a large variety of properties and the lifestyle is unmatched.”

— Joseph Lordi, McGrath Bayside Manly

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“Within only a handful of kilometres of the Brisbane CBD there are many large land parcels and gorgeous traditional Queenslander-style homes.”

Joseph Lordi. Picture: Supplied
Joseph Lordi. Picture: Supplied

Lordi says Chandler, about 20km from the CBD and airports, and considered an inner-city acreage suburb, is one of the most sought-after areas in Brisbane. He says he’s recently seen a high influx of interstate buyers from Sydney and Melbourne but there are typically only 20 or so properties for sale each year. The tightly held suburb has an average hold rate of 24 years for each property, with the median sale price growing by about 30 per cent during the past five years. However, at $1.55 million, it remains significantly cheaper than Sydney and Melbourne’s inner ring. Properties in the suburb are typically on at least 1ha.

Lordi is marketing Chandler’s former record holder, on the high point of the dress circle London Road. The grand 1ha estate last sold for $3.85 million in 2018.

652 London Road, Chandler. Picture: Supplied
652 London Road, Chandler. Picture: Supplied

A stone driveway behind wrought iron gates leads to the solid concrete home’s porte cochere, past manicured hedges and landscaped gardens. With more than 900sq m of internal living space over two levels, the no-expense-spared residence features marble staircases and Spanish Crema Marfil marble flooring. On the ground level is a formal living and dining space, six-seat home theatre, dance room, home office, games room and a gym.

The interior staircase at 652 London Road, Chandler. Picture: Supplied
The interior staircase at 652 London Road, Chandler. Picture: Supplied

The upper level has five bedrooms and two bathrooms. The master suite features a walk-through wardrobe, ensuite with dual vanity and access to two Juliet balconies. There are a number of courtyards accessed through French doors and a 20m lap pool flanked by lawns.

PRD Nationwide’s chief economist Dr Asti Mardiasmo says many buyers in South East Queensland come from Sydney and Melbourne, as they are able to secure more for their money.

A bedroom at 652 London Road, Chandler. Picture: Supplied
A bedroom at 652 London Road, Chandler. Picture: Supplied

“If they are thinking of it for an investment property, it’s quite the jackpot,” Mardiasmo says, citing the lower entry price, higher rental yield and comparable vacancy rates as drawcards for buyers from the southern states.

The piano room at 652 London Road, Chandler. Picture: Supplied
The piano room at 652 London Road, Chandler. Picture: Supplied

Strong buyer interest is also apparent as a trend on the Gold Coast. Ray White veteran agent Andrew Bell saw NSW and Melbourne buyers kick off 2020 in the prestige apartment sector.

“Their activity accelerated over the Christmas/New Year period, with a decision not only to gain financially from the sale of their properties in southern states in what was a very strong market and to pocket significant cash from the difference between Sydney sale prices and Gold Coast purchase prices, but from a very noticeable desire to enjoy something of the more stress-free lifestyle the Gold Coast provides,” Bell says.

“Most of these downsizers were moving out of homes they had been living in but they did not want to move into houses here on the Gold Coast. However they could not fit into small apartments, and so one-per-floor apartments, very sizeable three-bedroom apartments and sub-penthouses became their preference.”

M3565 on the Gold Coast’s Main Beach. Picture: Supplied
M3565 on the Gold Coast’s Main Beach. Picture: Supplied

The apartment offerings around Main Beach have always had the owner-occupier in mind, as opposed to the neighbouring Surfers Paradise, which caters for the holiday renter.

Ray White Prestige Gold Coast agent Robert Graham is marketing the fifth-level apartment in the Main Beach block M3565, developed by Harvey Norman chief executive Katie Page. Graham recently secured the sales of two of the seven apartments, at $4.5 million and $4.75 million, to leave just two apartments on the market in the boutique beachfront block.

The spectacular interior at Main Beach’s M3565. Picture: Supplied
The spectacular interior at Main Beach’s M3565. Picture: Supplied

The full-floor apartments, which are not allowed to be let to holiday-makers, each comprise four bedrooms and four bathrooms. Graham is asking $5.85 million for the level-five apartment, which spans 315sq m.

Graham is also marketing a sixth floor Bayden Goddard-designed apartment in Sea for $5,975,000. “Main Beach hasn’t had anything of this calibre built since 1991, so it’s been received quite well,” Graham says on Sea.

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“It’s a highly prized location on Main Beach and there is no vacant land along the strip so you can’t buy and build, you have to go for something existing.”

— Robert Graham, Ray White Prestige, Gold Coast

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Graham says 90 per cent of top-end sales in the past year have gone to downsizers.

The Gold Coast’s $3 million-plus apartment market has performed exceptionally well during the past six months, according to Graham.

“For $3 million, the apartment you will get today is far inferior to what you would have been able to buy three or four years ago,” he says. “This market is driven almost exclusively by locally based buyers from the Gold Coast. They are almost all mature buyers downsizing from homes on the Gold Coast to luxury apartments so they can travel and not be committed to the maintenance of a home. Most are empty nesters who want room for the kids and grandkids to come and visit periodically.”

An aerial view of 2 Charlton Sreet, Southport. Picture: Supplied
An aerial view of 2 Charlton Sreet, Southport. Picture: Supplied

Graham says the supply line for these types of apartments is drying up, however. “Demand is the highest I have seen in almost 20 years and there’s a shortage of owners wanting to sell.”

There is still a market on the Gold Coast for upsizers. In the neighbouring Southport, inland from Main Beach, Lucy Cole Prestige Properties Broadbeach agents Jim Sherrah and John Cole are marketing a sprawling 3900sq m estate with a recently renovated 1990s home.

The lounge room at 2 Charlton Street, Southport.
The lounge room at 2 Charlton Street, Southport.

In the sought-after The Southport School precinct, the home has seven bedrooms, eight bathrooms, a home cinema, two offices and a gym. There are two master suites, each with private terraces, walk-in wardrobes and marble ensuites. In the grounds is a swimming pool and cabana.

PRD’s Arit Mardiasmo says in South East Queensland you get much more square metreage, bigger blocks of land with backyards and bigger bedrooms. “If you look at the million-dollar houses you are getting sweeping staircases and higher ceilings, and bigger walk-in robes. You don’t see this in Sydney and Melbourne (for the same price).

Jonathan Chancellor
Jonathan ChancellorProperty Writer

Jonathan Chancellor is a senior property writer for The Australian's Business Review section. He has been a journalist since the early 1980s in Melbourne and Sydney, and specialises in reporting on the residential property market. Jonathan also writes for the Daily and Sunday Telegraph.

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/property/where-to-find-property-value-when-coronavirus-tempest-passes/news-story/37e71c091f9cb01a7f5fa3c88709436c