...

Southerners flock to regional Queensland’s beachside towns in search of the next property hotspot

Kirsti King and her husband moved to a sleepy beachside town where property prices have soared by more than 80 per cent in four years, but an analyst says it's still "extraordinarily cheap" compared to capital city property prices.

Five hours north of Brisbane, nestled between cane fields and the ocean, is Moore Park Beach in the Bundaberg region. Ms King, 28, and her husband are among the area's newest residents after moving last year for a lifestyle change. They swapped their mortgage in Brisbane for an "oasis" with a backyard full of kookaburras and private beach access. "We found this beautiful little town at Moore Park Beach, which is only about 20 minutes out of Bundaberg, and we found this beautiful home," she said.

Citydwellers ditch the Big Smoke for these 10 regional hotspots

The Hunter Valley, Central Coast Toowoomba and Bundaberg are among some of the regional cities that have become hugely popular among city-dwelling Australians looking to relocate in regional Australia, a new report has revealed. The mass exodus of Australians moving away from the CBD to snap up more affordable, spacious properties further afield has been described as the biggest property trend of the 21st century – and it’s making some regional cities skyrocket in popularity. “More and more people realise the possibilities of working remotely – and thereby being able to escape the big, expensive, congested cities,” hotspotting.com.au managing director Terry Ryder wrote in his latest report. “The fringe areas of major cities, regional cities, hill change towns and sea change enclaves are all beneficiaries of this compelling trend.”

Seaside holiday town famous for where turtles lay their eggs.

Bargara is a seaside holiday resort town with a road which runs along the coast – The Esplanade, Miller Street and Woongarra Scenic Drive – and a long strip of holiday homes, flats, apartments and motels all built between the beach and the hinterland. As recently as the 1980s Bargara (pronounced b’gara) was a sleepy coastal village full of interesting historic artifacts. There was a swimming pool which had been built out of the local volcanic rocks by the Kanakas – the slave labour brought from the South Pacific – and equally the kanakas had built impressive stone walls. Today the gods of development have taken over. The main street is full of chic cafes, a huge modern pub and lots of gift shoppes.


Read More

Govt adopts Labor policy to help regional first-home buyers crack market

THE government will support thousands of regional first home buyers get into the market, adopting a scheme put forward by Labor earlier this month.

Why Wide Bay’s housing market will soar further in 2022

A hot property market across the Wide Bay will continue to scorch in the new year according to leading real estate experts. These are the three rising star markets to watch.

Australians still deserting Melbourne and Sydney in droves to move to Brisbane, Bundaberg, Cairns

Australians are still deserting Melbourne and Sydney in droves and moving to Brisbane or the regions, according to an online removalist booking company. “We are a good proxy of the total people moving house in Australia - you would not look at our site unless you wanted to move,” Adam Coward from Muval told AAP. Based on the site’s tens of thousands of inquiries each month, which closely track official interstate migration data, Melbourne saw a net annual migration of -54 per cent up till the end of November.

Bundaberg’s housing market booms as city dwellers escape lockdowns

City dwellers hunting for their slice of bush paradise to escape pandemic lockdowns in larger cities are creating a property boom in the south-east Queensland city of Bundaberg. Buyers can still find a home on a big block for under $300,000 in the coastal city, which is just a few hours' drive from Australia's most expensive real estate hotspot, the Noosa Shire. There are jobs aplenty in health, hospitality and agriculture. The city also boasts easy access to the Great Barrier Reef and pristine uncrowded beaches.

QLD’s boom suburbs: Where house values have surged 30pc


City slickers are turning their backs on the big smoke with some Queensland regions recording 30 per cent house price growth in 12 months. FIND OUT HOW MUCH YOUR HOME IS WORTH.

QLD’s richest vendors snap up beach block in surprise location

QLD’s richest vendors snap up beach block in surprise location

They sold their Sunshine Beach mansion for a record $34 million, and now it can be revealed where Queensland’s richest vendors could be moving to next.

Samantha Healy 

less than 2 min read

July 16, 2021 – 12:00AM

They sold their Sunshine Beach mansion for a record $34 million, and now it can be revealed where Queensland’s richest vendors could be moving to next.

Margie and Murray Charlton’s Webb Road beach house became the most expensive home ever sold in Queensland when it changed hands off-market last month.

17 Webb Road at Sunshine Beach sold for a record $34 million price.

The sale price was almost double what their neighbours got just three years ago – proof that the Covid-19 property rush has caused a feverish rise in real estate prices in the Sunshine State.

Now, property records show the cashed-up couple purchased a beachfront block at Bagara in the Bundaberg region in May, two months before their jaw-dropping Sunshine Beach sale.

Google Earth images of 17 Webb Road, Sunshine Beach Queensland

Flanked by multimillion-dollar mansions, the couple bought the two adjoining blocks totalling 1812sq m of land on the exclusive strip at Archies Beach for $2.35 million.

The double block bought by the Charlton’s at Bargara

That means they now have over $31 million to splash out on a mega mansion.

PRD agent Mark Gelsomino, who sold the blocks, declined to comment.

Property records show that next door is The Glass House, a striking residence owned by controversial Greensill Capital founder Lex Greensill, whose global empire collapsed earlier this year owing billions of dollars to creditors.

That property was purchased for $4.12 million in 2019, according to CoreLogic.

Award-winning “The Glass House” when it was listed for sale before being purchased by Lex Greensill

On Four Corners on Monday, a local farmer accused the Greensill clan of crushing small family farms in the region.

The Greensills have snapped up more than $40 million of land in the Bundaberg region over the last five years as they expanded their agricultural operations into one of the biggest in the state, and expanded their broadacre production of sweet potatoes, peanuts and cane to gain supply contracts with Coles, Bega and Edgell.

Greensill Farming CEO Damien Botha also owns a home on the same exclusive strip.

Other owner-occupiers and investors in the well-heeled street include business owners, artists, farmers, advocates and doctors.

The median house sales price in Bargara is $428,000, according to CoreLogic.

Lex Greensill of Greensill Capital, London 1 December 2020- Picture By Annabel Moeller

Other owner-occupiers and investors in the well-heeled street include business owners, artists, farmers, advocates and doctors.

The median house sales price in Bargara is $428,000, according to CoreLogic.

Queensland house prices ‘through the roof’ as interstate migration at 20-year high