BEACH DREAMS STILL
Where to get a seaside bargain
QUEENSLAND is home to the cheapest coastal suburb on the east coast mainland, with new research revealing it’s still possible to buy a house by the water for under $300,000 — even after two years of phenomenal price growth.
Data compiled by PropTrack reveals the most affordable and priciest postcodes by the water, with the suburb of East Innisfail in the state’s north blitzing the southern states with a median house price of just $235,000, even after growth of 12 per cent in the past year.
Victoria’s cheapest beachside suburb for houses is Golden Beach with a median house price of $355,000, while in NSW, it’s Stuarts Point at $550,000 — five times that of Queensland’s cheapest.
The Gladstone suburb of Barney Point, with a median house price of $267,000, and Forrest Beach north of Townsville ($292,000) also have some of the best beachside gems for buyers on a budget. For a beach house a little closer to the big smoke, buyers will have to pay significantly more, with Deception Bay the cheapest beachside suburb in Greater Brisbane with a median house price of $600,000.
Units are a more affordable alternative though — unless you happen to be looking in Noosa Heads or Sunshine Beach where the median unit price is now $1.5m — 20 per cent higher than a year ago.
Michael Skuse of Raine & Horne Innisfail said the market in the area had been unaffected by rising interest rates or economic uncertainty because it was so affordable.
“There’s nowhere on the eastern seaboard of Australia where you can buy a house for $200,000,” Mr Skuse said.
“The impact of rising interest rates is much less felt when your mortgage is only $160,000.”
Mr Skuse said nearly half of his sales were sight unseen, with most investors opting for online property inspections from southeast Queensland or interstate.
“Many have never even been to Innisfail, but the numbers just add up,” he said.
“We’re running at basically zero per cent vacancy, so our rents are up something like 12 or 13 per cent. You look at the returns on these $200,000 homes and they beat just about anywhere.”
And while some may scoff that Innisfail is hardly a beachside suburb given the local crocodile population, Mr Skuse said there was a patrolled beach only 10 minutes away where he swam every day.
PropTrack economist Angus Moore said some of Queensland’s cheapest coastal suburbs might not suit the lifestyle of some owner-occupiers, but could make attractive investment options.
“We have seen a lot of people move out of the city to these more regional areas, looking for lifestyle and more space,” Mr Moore said.
When it comes to houses in beachside suburbs, Mermaid Beach on the Gold Coast has the most expensive median house price at a staggering $3.15m, which is nearly 40 per cent dearer than it was 12 months ago.