The properties that used to be beach bargains and what they're worth today
Cheap beach buys have been so hot on everyone’s property radar since the pandemic hit that the secret beachside locations where buyers could once find a bargain are not so secret anymore – and the bargains are now fewer and far between.
Agents in far-flung coastal towns report that interstate buyers’ demand for affordable beach houses this year has made it almost impossible to find properties for less than $500,000.
In Bramston Beach, about an hour south of Cairns in Far North Queensland, there are now only a handful of beachfront homes within that budget since it was flagged a year ago as an up and coming location among buyers.
Robyn Hawley-Whitton of Cairns Property Office said prices had “skyrocketed” thanks to demand from locked-down southern states.
She compared a three-bedroom waterfront house that she sold in October last year for $465,000 with another property that overlooks the beach that recently sold for $650,000.
“I had it on the market previously, and there was no way anyone would pay for it,” Mr Hawley-Whitton said. “No one wanted to pay more than $550,000.”
She said the pandemic helped place the area on the map: “We were very undervalued for a very long time … people have found it.
“Most that have been on the market and have sold recently are in the high $500,000 or more.”
North of Bramston Beach, Ms Hawley-Whitton is selling a five-bedroom house at Lot 68/2417 Pine Creek Yarrabah Road that overlooks the inlet at East Trinity with a price guide above $899,000.
For those still hoping for that dream affordable beach purchase, buyers should try their luck south of Bramston Beach in the nearby town of Flying Fish Point.
A three-bedroom house within walking distance of the shore at 19 Maud Street is for sale with a negotiable price guide of $399,000.
In New South Wales, there is hardly a sleepy coastal town that is yet to be discovered by eager city buyers who are keen to snap up their own beach home.
Last year, Nambucca Valley Property’s Caterina Cooper sold a quaint three-bedroom beach house for $410,000 – the top of its asking price range.
That price point has undoubtedly shifted since then, Ms Cooper said, noting comparable properties now sell above $500,000.
“Because of the COVID restrictions, with people not being able to travel, it has forced people into the area; they have discovered the area. That’s the thing that’s really made a difference,” Ms Cooper said.
She is selling a two-bedroom beach shack at 24 Third Avenue for $465,00 to $495,000. That gets the buyer one less bedroom for potentially nearly $100,000 more than her listing from a year ago.
“There’s nothing apart from that one listing, and I’ve got offers already on the top end, and we haven’t completed the marketing for that,” she said.
“All of a sudden, it went from a balanced market to a seller’s market. There weren’t enough listings, and there were too many buyers,” she said.
Buyers might still be in luck if they are looking for beach houses in Victoria for less than $500,000, as rising prices have yet to break that threshold in Seaspray and Golden Beach.
Elder’s Real Estate Sale’s Tracey Wrigglesworth said while prices had risen about $100,000 in the past year, interested parties could still nab a beach house for less than $400,000.
“It was cheap before. Our blocks in Golden Beach used to be $75,000 … whereas last year most of them sold for $100,000 and at the moment are $200,000. These blocks are straight across from the beach.”
Ms Wrigglesworth has fielded plenty of calls from out-of-area buyers who have simply searched for cheap beach houses online. Some have then bought sites unseen, she said.
She is selling a four-bedroom house a short walk from the beach at 13 Fairway Avenue, Golden Beach, with a guide of $425,000.
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