Secluded village no longer: Kingscliff affordability attract big-city investors

Kingscliff was once a quiet, secluded holiday village on the far north coast but, according to Paul McMahon, of LJ Hooker Kingscliff, that has changed significantly over the past 20 to 30 years.

“In the past I would have had 500 holiday bookings a year, now I’ve 10 times that and I’m just one of the agents,” he says.

The surge in demand for accommodation has resulted in a major shortage of everything – houses, units and land – and because of this, buyers need to be flexible, he says.

Understandably, this has pushed prices upwards. McMahon says finding a two or three-bedroom unit in the mid-$300,000s “nearly required a miracle”.

Chris Hall, of Coastal Real Estate, says prices in highly sought-after areas, such as Marine Parade and Casuarina, averaged $1.2 million and land could be bought for between $430,000 and $460,000.

According to Hall, about 25 per cent of the housing stock is owned by investors from Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne attracted by the town’s relative affordability.

The four-bedroom and three-bathroom townhouse at 2/28 Kingscliff Street, for example, is selling for just $755,000 with PRDnationwide Tweed Coast Coolangatta.

Affordability, however, is just one of the town’s attractions. “It’s God’s own country,” Roger McLeod, of Professionals Kingscliff, says.

“It’s got summer for seven months a year, it’s safe for families, there’s no crime and there is plenty of employment in the area, if not the town itself.”

All the agents say the town of almost 6500 people is a special place offering a great lifestyle and is close to everything – the international airport at Coolangatta is a 15-minute drive to the north and Byron Bay is a 30-minute drive south.

The twin towns of Tweed Heads-Coolangatta provide plenty of jobs, particularly in the service and tourism sectors.

They say most of the locals, who have lived in the town for 20 or more years, are holding on to their properties because there is nowhere better to move to.

Hall says the town has great potential in the next 20 years, especially on the outskirts.

“It could be the next Noosa,” he says. However, the locals want to keep things as they are, which is close to perfect.