Is it the time to buy a house on the Cooloola Coast?

News is promising on the real estate front on our coast. Andrew Hawkins from Rainbow Beach Realty says, “The property market in Rainbow Beach has well and truly turned a corner with the best sales activity seen in years. This activity began to pick up two to three months ago, but it’s really taken off in just the past few weeks.”

He says that houses in the low to mid-price brackets have been the main focus for buyers with sales up to the $600,000 mark.

“This is a great sign for the broader Rainbow market, that focus is returning to good quality family homes, a market segment that has been quiet for far too long.

“Our buyers have all been out-of-towners but with long-term connections to Rainbow Beach, either as past residents coming home or long time holidaymakers.

“The comment I heard several times from buyers is they’ve been watching the market for a long time and were now eager to get in before the market moved, a sentiment I strongly agree with.”

Dee White from Cooloola Coast Realty also reports a noticeable increase in enquiry and sales activity since just prior the start of this financial year. Although it is mostly under $450,000, there have been a couple of sales of $600,000+, and over a real mix of residential property.

Dee says, “Existing houses tend to represent better value than buying land and building at present; but in saying that, there has also been a couple of land sales.

She theorises that people are recognising that Rainbow Beach property values are not going down any further and current prices represent good value (especially in comparison to the Sunshine Coast).

“There has been a trend of buyers purchasing through a self-managed superannuation fund with a view to renting it out for a few years and then moving here themselves permanently after retirement.”

Dee also believes that with a lot of workers being able to work remotely (not having to go into an office environment every day) there has been an increase in people buying in Rainbow and living here semi-permanently. Only travelling for work when necessary.

And as to why there is increased activity, Dee explains, “Prior to the GFC, Rainbow Beach property prices became over inflated and unsustainable. After 2008, there was a significant price correction and it took some time for vendors to come to terms with this. Over the past 12 months to two years the market has levelled out.”

Houses under $400,000 are now not lasting long on the market and Dee sees that as the beginning of a change. That is not to say that prices will go up, as there is no evidence to suggest that there is any upwards pressure on values.

“There is still quite a lot of stock for sale and we would still describe it as a ‘buyers’ market’,” Dee shares. ”However, there is more of a sense of urgency now than there has been over the past eight years. The historically low interest rates have definitely had an impact on buyer confidence.”

Both realtors are smiling, and Andrew concluded, “With the coming busy holiday season and enquiries still coming in every day it’s looking very positive for this market turnaround to continue and for a good Christmas for Rainbow Beach.”