Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Sunshine Coast Troubles

There was an auction last weekend of a large number apartments in the Crowne Plaza Resort near Caloundra, at Pelican Waters. None sold. See story from AFR:

"Heavy discounts, a year to settle and a $5000 rebate were not enough to entice buyers to a liquidation auction on the Sunshine Coast yesterday. Reed Property Group released the final 36 units in its 2005-built Crowne Plaza Resort & Spa in a Helmsman auction, where all units are offered simultaneously to boost interest.

Despite bids on 30 of the 36 units none was sold, although post auction talks continued later yesterday. Reed Property chief executive Ken Reed said the market was soft. “It’s a buyer’s market. Conditions on the Sunshine Coast are not too different from elsewhere in south-east Queensland,” he said.

An opening bid of $65,000 for an 88 square metre one-bedroom unit was the lowest offer made. One of the 512sq m penthouses attracted a maximum bid of $600,000 after it was listed for $1.58 million. Kings Beach residents Deborah and Jeff Taylor said the event was “a fizzier”. “The marker is so depressed at the moment. Things are selling for prices you wouldn’t believe. There are so many units on the market around here at the moment,” Mrs Taylor said.

The $65 million tower has access to a Greg Norman-designed championship golf course, pools, tennis courts and a gym."

1 comment:

Annette Higgins said...

The Crowne Plaza is probably the worst case scenario for the SC. It does not have much going for it other than the cheap price for buyers. The primary problem is its isolation from everything except a golf course, and that is a very small market. A similar situation with resort properties at Marcoola since the GFC, where you can buy a very good quality and spacious 2 bedroom apartment for about $260,000.

There is upside for savy investors who focus on income. The supply of hotel/holiday accommodation is unlikely to increase significantly for up to 10 years. This means a cheap purchase now in a good location (near beach, shops and business districts) will likely yield close to 10% returns in less than 5 years. Even with that in mind, I would not buy at Crowne Plaza.