“Those same owners are all wanting to downsize within either Hope Island Resort or Sanctuary Cove because they don’t want to give up their golf buggies. This means there’s not a lot of downsizer stock left,” she said.
“That downsizer product is really in demand and it’s driving the market.”
O’Neill said about half of her buyers last year were local,while a quarter were from Brisbane and another quarter were from interstate – down from about 60 per cent the previous year.
She said out-of-area demand and downsizer activity in recent years had helped prices continue their long recovery from the steep drop seen in the Global Financial Crisis,when priced plummeted by up to 50 per cent.
“I have one townhouse in Sanctuary Cove on the market right now that just received an offer of $1.55 million. Three years ago,it sold for $690,000 and while it did have a bit of a renovation,prices have[soared] in the past couple of years here,” O’Neill said.
Despite the uptick in values,O’Neill expects to see a rise in distressed sales next year.
In Buderim,506 homes sold for a total value of about $600 million,while Port Macquarie had 602 house sales totalling more than $562 million.
Michelle Percival,of Port Macquarie-based Percival Property,said a rise in out-of-area buyers had fuelled those figures,but it had been a patchy year.
“There were volatile periods in the middle of the year and the last interest rate rise did rock things around August. But we started to recover in September and the last three months have been very strong,” Percival said.
“In general,Port Macquarie has this incredible pull. We are still very good value if you look at us compared with other[coastal] towns such as Byron Bay,and we have great infrastructure while offering a lot of services and schools.
“People know about Port Macquarie now. It was put on the map because of Covid … and we’re seeing more families moving here for the lifestyle,” she said,noting she had buyers relocating from other parts of NSW,Victoria,South Australia and Queensland.
In Victoria,260 houses in Ocean Grove fetched almost $308 million,while 211 properties in Torquay traded for a total of about $302.8 million.
Tim Carson,of McCartney Real Estate in Torquay said the perennially popular spot had long stood the test of time thanks to its proximity to Melbourne and Geelong,and added that a notable contingent of retired Victorian farmers had purchased houses there over the past 12 months.
“People are moving here from everywhere,but we did get lots of buyers from Ballarat and Bendigo this year. We also get a lot of Geelong families purchasing here too once their kids get to secondary school,” he said.“Melbourne buyers make up about 30 to 35 per cent of purchases.”
Carson said 2023 had been somewhat tougher across the property sector,as a higher volume of investors offloaded their homes. Despite that he felt prices had held,but noted homes were taking longer to sell.