Agnes Water - source Wikipedia.
Queensland has coastal property bargains thanks to the booming property market. Given seemingly high demand, it's important to think of stretching those dollars.
Referring to data from
realestate.com.au, Queensland only averages 836 website visits per property at late August 2021 while New South Wales has 1675, so it's interesting applying research to something a bit more factual. But is that not precisely the point about Queensland - that you will get fewer buyers equating to more space when plunged into a crisis where people want to feel assured about things like not catching Covid-19, protecting lifestyles and finding a good bargain at the same time that holds its value.
Queensland's warm winters and low Covid-19 case numbers are becoming quite tempting for buyers from interstate.
What follows are some fast facts about Queensland coastal towns from
realestate.com.au - as that website offers great data that can at least be taken seriously.
The longlist below helped me analyse some of the best locations:
Bundaberg, Yeppoon, Mackay Beaches, Cannonvale on the Whitsunday Coast, Brisbane (north and south satellite coastal towns), Gold and Sunny Coasts, Rainbow Beach, Tin Can Bay and Hervey Bay/Fraser Coast region, Agnes Water and some omissions include much of Far North Queensland, so past Bowen, and the Gladstone area, because Far North Queensland, as spectacular as it is, has quite a few hazards, while Gladstone has the aluminium smelter - although Mission Beach, Port Douglas, and Cairns northern beaches, and Townsville's The Strand all can be searched for a bargain.
As a counter-example - the southern Sunshine Coast suburb of Pelican Waters is not where to look for a bargain. It's got 1000
realestate.com.au website visits per property (so well over the state average) and at nearly a median of a million dollars a house and three quarters a million a unit, while you'll get something new and spacious and close to Brisbane, it's not (despite its desirability) a Queensland coastal property bargain.
The first 'bargain location' used from my longlist is
Cannonvale, 4802 - a unit in Cannonvale has a median price of only $232,500, yet in terms of livability, you might get an occasional cyclone in the wet season. It's in a place where due to the local tourism industry, employment is always available, it's really well connected to the rest of civilization yet still on the Whitsunday Coast's idyllic paradise location.
View over Cannonvale and beyond - courtesy of author 2021.
Nearby Airlie Beach has a unit median of $345,000 and a near double house price, so it's a sign to head slightly north to Cannonvale - which arguably has better shopping as well than Airlie Beach - at least for permanent residents that is.
Airlie Beach, QLD courtesy of author 2021.
- has a slightly lower median unit price than Airlie Beach - surprisingly low visits per property and cheap houses, yet it's very idyllic, with the Keppel Islands, coral reef viewing and beaches nearby. It's also not all that far from Rockhampton, which has a good airport. At $335,000 median unit price and $427,000 median house price, I feel the weather is a bit less volatile at Yeppoon but it's still built up, and offers some employment on farms, tourism, further away mining and services sectors, with government jobs possible in Rockhampton.
Yeppoon main beach coastal view - source Wikipedia
is stunning value at (median values of) $440,000 per house and $295,000 per unit - like Yeppoon, the weather is less volatile than the state's far north, and while it's not all that built up an area, some civilization is existent with a growing tourism sector. Gladstone and Bundaberg are in a short one and a half hour driving distance
Near Agnes Water at Town of 1770, source: Wikipedia.
Here are some more (median) prices conveniently listed for comparison in other bargain likely locations:
Beachmere: (close to Brisbane) 491K House/ 595K Unit
Mission Beach: 430K House/ 303K Unit
Port Douglas: House 780K/ 288K Unit
Bargara: (near Bundaberg) 460K house/ 375K Unit
Tin Can Bay: (near Gympie) 415K House/ 315K Unit
Very little data exists for Rainbow Beach - but it's a spectacular location - a short drive from Tin Can Bay and Cooloola Cove.
Burrum Heads: (near Hervey Bay - good for retirees and has calm waters for recreation), 495K House only data.
Point Vernon: (northern end of Hervey Bay urban area) offers a house median of just 400K - spacious and good for pet owners.
Bellara on Bribie Island, doesn't cost much more than the already mentioned further north locations (and seems much cheaper than nearby Pelican Waters), at 456K House/369K Unit.
Port Douglas, FNQ, source: Wikipedia.
Bargara, Qld, source: Wikipedia.
Burrum Heads - courtesy of author 2019
Point Vernon Ocean View - over Hervey Bay courtesy of author 2021.
Beachmere, Queensland - courtesy of author 2021.
Bellara, Qld, source: Wikipedia.
I think a final message is to shop around and research hard and try to visit the place (may seem obvious but still worth mentioning). There are many further places that can be mentioned like the Mackay beaches, Townsville, Bowen, Cairns northern beaches such as Trinity Beach - it shows just how much bargain real estate is currently on offer. Even little fishing villages such as
Turkey Beach near Gladstone but just far away enough not to be polluted from the Gladstone refineries are quite fascinating places upon further inspection (for
Turkey Beach, you can get a house for just over a quarter-million dollars), and the lifestyle would be hard to criticise despite its isolable location.
Queensland has many coastal bargains, many of which can only be hinted at here - it's a good chance to think in terms of research and try finding or simply admiring the many potential bargains in today's real estate market.
* All prices in Aussie dollars (AUD) and images courtesy of the author and sourced from Wikipedia.
