Australian coastal suburbs back from the brink

While most of Australia’s coastal properties copped a battering during the financial crisis, the lifestyle regions are finally starting to bounce back with prices rising in most areas. RP Data’s research analyst Cameron Kusher said properties values fell across most coastal properties last year because buyers over capitalised and were forced to sell.

In the seaside town of Portsea in Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, the median house price slipped 32.7% over the last 12 months. In addition, Mr Kusher said some suburbs also experienced significant levels of vendor discounting with the vendor sale price expectation not meeting what purchasers were willing to pay.

However, coastal properties are finally starting to regain ground and Mr Kusher said he expects prices to rise throughout 2010 as more investors enter the market. Mr Kusher also said now was a good time for investors to grab a bargain, while property prices were still low.

According to RP Data’s latest figures, Rocky Cape in Tasmania is Australia’s most affordable coastal suburb, with a median house price of $53,750 across 18 sales over the last year. At the other end of the scale, Vaucluse in Sydney is the most expensive oceanfront suburb with a median house price of $3.16 million across 77 sales during the last year.

If you are interested in purchasing a property in Australia, Intellichoice has a wide range of real estate developments in coastal areas including Sunshine Coast (QLD), Gold Coast (QLD) and Mornington Peninsula (VIC)