UNIT IN PARADISE THAT WILL NOT SELL
A BEACHFRONT unit in North Queensland has the unenviable title of Australia’s longest listed property, with the waterfront apartment on the market for a whopping 14 years.
To put that marathon marketing effort into perspective, the median days on market for a Queensland property is just 42 days, according to new research from Proptrack.
For houses it is 41 days and for units, it is 43 days.
But this Bowen apartment had been on the market for an eye-watering 5316 days as of the end of August.
Offering 176sq m of living space, it has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, space for two vehicles and killer views.
It is listed for $929,000 and currently rented for $700 a week, or $36,400 a year.
The latest REA Market Trends report shows that the median days on market in Bowen is just 55 days.
Bowen was used as a base for Baz Luhrmann’s 2008 film Australia, with the towns water tower emblazoned with ‘Bowenwood’ until 2018.
LJ Hooker Bowen principal Tony Doyle, who is marketing the unit at Coral Cove Apartments, said the owners bought it off-the-plan “many years ago” and moved over from New Zealand for a brief time.
But illness saw the owners
return to New Zealand and the unit has been rented ever since.
“The tenant has been in there for over a decade now and it has a great rental yield,” Mr Doyle said.
“It is a great spot, a great unit, but the owner (son) is in no rush to sell unless the price is right. Bowen was in a slump for some time but I have had some recent interest in it, some action on it, so hopefully it sells soon.”
The Proptrack research shows that the top 10 Queensland properties that have languished on the market the longest despite the pandemic property boom are all located north of Rockhampton.
Mr Doyle is also marketing 49 Bluewater Parade in Bowen, which is listed for $695,000.
He said there was a contract on the original beach house earlier in the year, but the deal fell over when the contract on the buyers Noosa home collapsed. It had been on the market for 5015 days as of the end of August.
Six of Queensland’s top 10 have been on the market for more than 5000 days, with all of the properties eclipsing the longest listings in NSW (4102 days), Victoria (3131), SA (4488) and Tasmania (1040).
In Ingham, two properties make the list including a fourbedroom house that sits on a 809sq m block and is listed for an affordable $380,000 and a four-bedroom house on a 1617sq m block that is listed for $220,000.
They have been on the market for 5299 and 5120 days re
spectively. Felix Reitano Real Estate agent and auctioneer Peter Reitano, who sells in the Hinchinbrook district, said properties that sat on the market for long periods were most likely owned by someone who was in no rush to sell.
“I don’t know the exact reasons but I would say they are not overly motivated to
sell. They don’t need to sell and I suppose there is likely some sentimental value there as well,” he said.
“That’s not to say they wouldn’t sell for the right price but they are in no rush.”
Otherwise, Mr Reitano said the local market was moving “quite quickly”.
He said there was still plenty of local, interstate and
Queensland-based interest in local properties.
“Properties that are priced right, sell quickly,” he said.
Elsewhere, a two-bedroom house on a 751sq m block in Ayr is also listed for $210,000 negotiable.
It has been on the market for 5062 days.
A three-bedroom house on a 3015sq m block at Silkwood is listed for $325,000 but has sat on the market for 5112sq m days.
The remaining top 10 have been listed for more than 4600 days, including a threebedroom house in Charters Towers ($220,000), a family home close to the beaches and golf course in Bowen ($530,000), a renovated investment house in Hughenden ($175,000) and a spacious two-bedroom house in Rockhampton City ($270,000).
Proptrack executive manager of economic research
Cameron Kusher said if the owners were serious about selling, they would have dropped the price by now.
“I think it’s a case that if they get the price they want they will probably sell, but if not, they are in a position to just have it sit there,” he said.
“Most sellers aren’t in that position as they have committed elsewhere and just can’t sit on a property for 14 years.”
And Mr Kusher said that despite their long listings, buyers were unlikely to get a bargain.
“If you are willing to pay the list price, you will likely get the sale but given that prices generally are falling, these could be on the market for some time to come,” he said.