Only in Australia: property prices on the rise in Bribie Island thanks to pub

Demand for property on Bribie Island is up and prices are rising – and it’s thanks to a pub.

The Sandstone Point Hotel, a $50 million development perched on 300 metres of unobstructed water frontage across the Pumicestone Passage to Bribie Island, opened 18 months ago.

Bribie Island, off the coast of Moreton Bay, is about a 45-minute drive north of Brisbane .

According to local property agents, the hotel’s sheer size, popularity and music events which draw crowds of up to 12,000 mean it has become a driving force behind property sales on the island.

“Properties that used to take us five or six months to sell are now selling in a matter of weeks,” agent Michelle Gillingham of @Realty said.

“People who may not have necessarily thought of Bribie as a nice place to live or invest are sitting in the hotel, staring across the Passage at it thinking ‘wow’. They’re literally walking across the bridge to come and inquire about the cost of property here.”

While two-bedroom units on the waterfront at Bribie are still available to buy for under $300,000, prices are rising. Records from the Domain Group show the median price in Woorim, a beachside suburb of Bribie, rose by 19.5 per cent in 2016.

The Sandstone Point Hotel, owned by the Comiskey Group, opened in June 2015. Sprawled atop a 35-hectare waterfront site, the hotel itself is 3000 square-metres and includes a kids playground with farmyard animals, multiple bars and dining spaces, Oyster Shed serving fish and chips down by the jetty and a 750 square-metre liquor barn.

Since opening, it’s been named Australia’s Best Hotel (regional) and hosted several of massive events including the Beach Boys and Jimmy Barnes.

Ms Gillingham said the large hotel crowds made a difference to the local property market after one year.

“They get anywhere between 7000 and 12,000 at a concert – if just two or three per cent of those people there like what they see at Bribie and decide to buy property here, that’s a huge influx of buyers for us,” she said.

“I’ve had buyers from Sydney and Melbourne who’ve been at the hotel for a concert and ended up buying property here because of it.”

Ann Groat, from Harcourts Bribie Island, said she had two female buyers before Christmas, both ready to pay cash for a unit within walking distance of the Sandstone Point Hotel.

“One wanted to be able to use it to go to the UB40 concert in January, the other wanted it to go to see John Farnham in February,” she said.

“Both planned to rent it out for holidays during the year, blocking off weekends for when they wanted to go to events at the hotel.

“The pub has enabled people to reconnect with Bribie. Holiday rentals are going crazy as well.”

Martin Howard-Smith, of LJ Hooker Bribie Island, said the hotel added a wow factor to Bribie that had previously been missing.

“For a long time, Bribie has had a much older demographic, appealing to retired people and their families who came up for weekends and holidays,” he said.

“I’ve really noticed a strong demand from younger buyers coming through over the past 12 to 18 months, which means prices are also picking up.”

The highest sales price achieved on the Island was in 2006 when 65 Seaside Drive achieved $2.7 million.