Saturday, November 19, 2011

Buying Off The Plan from Juniper

A number of people have asked me whether now is a good time to buy an apartment on the Gold Coast, particularly at Juniper's Soul building that is almost complete.

According to a number of property experts, the Gold Coast property market is still in decline, and further price falls are expected.

Let's look at Juniper's immediate prior luxury development, which is Oceans Mooloolaba.  Did buyers from Juniper do well or not?  It is sometimes hard to tell looking a public data, because Juniper gives under the table rebates to purchasers, so the exact initial purchase price from Juniper is not necessarily what is reported to the government.

Here is the evidence:

  • Apt 704, sold by Juniper for $2,500,000 in 2005; resold in 2011 for $1,805,000.
  • Apt 606, sold by Juniper for $1,580,000 in 2007; resold in 2011 for $1,650,000.
  • Apt 503, sold by Juniper for $1,300,000 in 2007; resold in 2009 for $1,070,000.
  • Apt 404, sold by Juniper for $1,380,000 in 2005; resold in 2007 for $1,200,000.
  • Apt 404, sold by Juniper for $1,370,000 in 2003; resold in 2006 for $1,150,000; resold in 2010 for $1,115,000.
  • Apt 401, sold by Juniper for $1,670,000 in 2003; resold in 2009 for $1,500,000.
  • Apt 303, sold by Juniper for $1,320,000 in 2006; resold in 2007 for $1,025,000.
  • Apt 301 sold by Juniper for $1,600,000 in 2003; resold in 2009 for $1,445,000.
  • Apt 203, sold by Juniper for $1,750,000 in 2004; resold in 2010 for $1,800,000.
Taking into account stamp duty, everyone who has purchased from Juniper and then resold has lost money.  Some of the resales were before the market collapsed in 2008.  One suspects that it would be best to wait before buying in Soul or anywhere on the Gold Coast for that matter.


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