Coffs Harbour joins 3 NSW cities at the peak: March HTW house property clock
NSW’s Coffs Harbour has reached the peak of the market cycle, while Melbourne is approaching its peak, according to valuation firm Herron Todd White’s latest property clock for houses, which also discusses gentrification.
The HTW clock for March is a simple broad brush means to suggest where property markets are and what direction prices are moving in.
Coffs Harbour joins Dubbo, Newcastle and Central Coast at the top of the property cycle for houses, making it a clean sweep for NSW at the top.
Canberra, and the twin cities of Albury and Wodonga have entered a rising phase, while Sydney remains as a market starting to decline, joined by Horsham and South West Western Australia, shows the clock.
The Coffs Coast is made up of several small coastal and rural communities and has not yet experienced significant gentrification.
There are several well established and sought after localities which continue to experience redevelopment or modernisation of old to new, however, these have not been gentrified, more they have always been prime locations.
In Coffs Harbour, localities of this type that have experienced new development include Sawtell and the Jetty/ Harbour precinct and the northern beaches localities of Moonee Beach, Sapphire Beach and Emerald Beach.
Valla Beach to the south and the popular rural township of Bellingen are also areas to which people tend to be attracted. The township of Woolgoolga (25 kilometres north of Coffs Harbour) is also experiencing new development within the central location close to the CBD and beach. Several older style cottages along the headland and central town positions are being purchased and redeveloped for more upmarket housing or higher density development.
This is also coupled with increasing commercial activity seeing further development of the cafe and restaurant scene attracting increased popularity as a holiday destination and permanent address.
There is one locality where the future for gentrification would appear to be the brightest - Park Beach (about five kilometres from Coffs Harbour’s CBD). This area was established in the 1970s with modest low-rise holiday and unit accommodation buildings and several single residential homes scattered throughout. Along the esplanade (Ocean Parade), higher density development has taken place with medium rise unit buildings, the landmark tavern known as the Hoey Moey and Park Beach Caravan Park making this area a popular tourist location.
The locality has suffered from a history of negative social features and while these have been largely addressed, a stigma remains which has reduced broader market appeal. The advantage of this locality is the beachside position with major shopping facilities such as Park Beach Shopping and Home Base centres located nearby. This area is divided into two sections by a distributor road known as Hogbin Drive to the east and west.
Although the whole locality has seen considerable new development in the past two years, predominantly through the construction of new townhouse complexes, the major development of new high-rise buildings to the east of Hogbin Drive has seen the area lift in stature.
The area is predominantly made up of unit complexes with limited single residential dwellings available. The entry point in the area for a modest two-bedroom unit is around $150,000 to $180,000 with average prices ranging from $200,000 to $250,000.
New three-bedroom townhouse units (west of Hogbin Drive) sell for $360,000 to $390,000, while modern units east of Hogbin Drive are priced between $420,000 to $460,000. The new high-rise buildings start at around $400,000 on the lower levels and up to $1 million plus for penthouse units.
Among the capital cities, the ACT property market has undergone significant gentrification over the past five years with the emergence of Braddon’s Lonsdale Street precinct and the Kingston Foreshore as two of the most sought after residential locations, say HTW.
In Melbourne, the growing popularity of Footscray is being driven by revitalisation of local amenities, an increase in shops and restaurants, local council initiatives, affordability of property and significant volume residential developments.
The current median house price for the December 2015 quarter was $765,000, a slight decrease from $780,000 in September 2015 and the median unit price was $366,667 which has remained steady since September 2015.
Among the other movers is Gladstone, which is approaching the bottom of the market, while the rural region of Gippsland in Victoria is shown as rising.
