Thursday, September 5, 2013
Hilton Gold Coast Capital Losses
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Hilton Surfers Paradise Price Slice
- Level 29, 2 bedroom, 119 sqm, was $1,185,000, now $840,000
- Level 38, 3 bedroom, 147 sqm, was $1,750,000, now $1,300,000
- Level 30, 2 bedroom, 100 sqm, was $1,000,000, now $685,000
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Hilton Gold Coast - Huge Number of Crashed Contracts
Now it has come to light that many of the investors were from outside Australia, and more than 100 purchasers have failed to settle (or about 25% of buyers). Values have dropped dramatically, with apartments sold off the plan for $1.4M now valued at about $800,000. (This book would have been helpful to these buyers.)
A number of purchasers who did settle have not put their apartments into the onsite rental pool with Hilton, and offsite agents are making under the name "H Residences". This shows that rental returns are likely to be poor.
Many apartments on the Gold and Sunshine Coasts have decreased in value since 2008. I know of a recent Juniper beachfront apartment that was sold off the plan for over $1.4M, that remains unsold today at $800,000.
See also this article.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Surfers Paradise
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Gold Coast Hilton
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Gold Coast Settlements Off the Plan
Friday, June 10, 2011
Soul and Mirvac and Oracle and Hilton
LISTED property trust Mirvac Group will operate a luxury hotel at Juniper Group's Soul apartment complex on the Gold Coast.
It is understood Juniper had been speaking to potential operators about incorporating a hotel/resort in the development which had originally been planned as purely top-end apartments.
Juniper and Mirvac are close to finalising an agreement, industry sources say.
Apartment values on the Gold Coast have fallen by up to 50 per cent due to oversupply of projects, many of which were started before the global financial crisis.
The resort in the Soul complex will compete with Mantra's five-star Peppers Hotel at the newly- built $700 million Oracle Broadbeach tower and also the Hilton Surfers Paradise Hotel and Residences, which was part of a development launched by failed Gold Coast developer Jim Raptis.
There is a total of 20,000 hotel rooms on the Gold Coast.
The Hilton hotel is on the market with price expectations of more than $60m on behalf of receivers acting for ANZ.
Oracle was also placed in voluntary receivership in December by Michael Nikiforides, a director of South Sky Investments, a Niecon-related company.
It was also suggested Mirvac briefly looked at takeover target Oaks Hotels and Resorts, for which Thai-based conglomerate Minor International is now a majority shareholder.
Mirvac was not available for comment yesterday.
It is understood that at least 200 apartments in the Juniper Group's Soul apartment project at Surfers Paradise are due to settle in stages from July.
Industry sources said Juniper had been marketing the Soul apartments in Asia with the promise of three-year rental guarantees on a $2m apartment, equating to $2000 a week. There are still 92 apartments remaining for sale at Soul, according to the Midwood Report, although the group provided no details on sales in the complex during the February quarter.
The yet-to-be-completed 77-level Soul tower fronts both the beach and Surfers' main retail strip, Cavill Mall, on the corner of The Esplanade and Cavill Avenue.
INVESTORS who bought into the failed $700 million Oracle Broadbeach development on the Gold Coast have been trying to offload their apartments at auction, but are finding no buyers, according to real estate sources.
It bodes unfavourably for the 200-plus pre-sold apartments in the Juniper Group's Soul apartment project at Surfers Paradise, due to settle in stages from July.
It is understood Juniper has been marketing the Soul apartments in Asia with the promise of three-year rental guarantees on a $2m apartment -- equating to $2000 a week -- and has involved a corporate advisory firm.
Market sources said the apartments at Oracle, on Elizabeth Avenue, Broadbeach, had been put to auction after the investors had settled with the receivers. But the apartments had not sold, mainly because of an expectation receivers would put more stock on the market at steeply discounted prices.
Oracle was placed in voluntary receivership in December by Michael Nikiforides, a director of South Sky Investments, a Niecon-related company. Niecon, of which Con Nikiforides is the chief executive, developed Oracle.
One Oracle apartment owner said then he was aware of people who had bought apartments for $3.5m and had since sold them for $2.5m. As at January, it was believed the developer had secured about $160m from more than 400 pre-sales in the 505-apartment complex, and between October and January about 180 of those had settled.
The value of Gold Coast apartments has typically fallen by 30 per cent since the global financial crisis.
The Oracle project is believed to have cost about $700m, with up to $550m in loans from a syndicate including National Australia Bank, Westpac, Suncorp and Bank of Scotland.
Juniper's Soul, which unlike Oracle is not insolvent, has 92 apartments remaining for sale, according to the latest data from the Midwood Report, although the group provided no details on sales in the complex during the February quarter.
Friday, December 24, 2010
2010 Brisbane Apartment Awards
- Mirvac's Tennyson Reach
- Niecon's The Oracle at Broadbeach
- Raptis' The Hilton Surfers Paradise
- Evolution.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Gold Coast Collapsing
Story from the AFR on Friday last week - "Banks judge Gold Coast apartments as vulnerable".
"Westpac Banking Corp has a particularly cautious view, especially of luxury properties worth more than $3M on the Gold Coast, which is described as a key area for 'additional risk management focus'. There are hundreds of apartments on the Gold Coast priced at more than $3M. At the Oracle development at Broadbeach, there are at least 50; at two other projects coming to completion - Juniper's Soul and Brookfield's Hilton - there are more than 100."
Story from The Australian today: "Gold Coast High Rise Stress Underestimated"
"MAJOR bank Suncorp estimates that less than 10 per cent of buyers are defaulting on several major apartment projects on the Gold Coast.
Gold Coast property agents have claimed the estimate was extremely optimistic. ...
"They'll be celebrating in the streets if it's only 10 per cent default," one Gold Coast agent said.
"There's a lot of rumours around about settlements, but it's all looking very slow."
Soul has been on the market for five years and, while the market boomed for the first three of those years, the global financial crisis cut the value of these units substantially."
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Gold Coast
Friday, February 6, 2009
Raptis Goes Bust
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Raptis and Surfers Paradise
There are rumors that Raptis, who is developing the Hilton hotel and apartment complex at Surfers Paradise, is in significant trouble. I wonder if the Gold Coast Hilton will get off the ground?
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24252689-664,00.html
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24247597-664,00.html
The Gold Coast apartment market is not doing well at present. New apartment are not selling, as existing owners are cutting prices, and rental returns are not good.
"Mr Juniper said Soul would breathe new life into Surfers Paradise. "It's the transformation of the Gold Coast; a brand new Surfers Paradise is being delivered right now," he said. "To have the Hilton being built next door is fantastic. It reassures everyone that Surfers Paradise is still moving ahead in these times at the moment. "They have achieved fantastic sales. We have achieved fantastic sales and it just shows the strength of the Gold Coast market."
He said unlike the Hilton, where sales had been to predominantly offshore interests, Soul had attracted mostly local buyers.
http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2008/08/13/14912_gold-coast-business.html