Simon Lloyd

Penthouses for bargain basement prices. Oversupply up and down the Queensland coast mean canny buyers are paying well under prices of even a year ago.

Hurry while stocks last!

A story in Melbourne’s Herald Sun this week caught my eye because it put me in mind of those uber-irritating TV commercials where a loud-mouthed announcer yells at viewers to “HURRY HURRY HURRY” because they’ll “SAVE SAVE SAVE”. The article highlighted the drastic – embarrassing even – price reductions being offered by Gold Coast developer Sunland Group for its penthouse “Sky Residences” in Q1, the world’s tallest residential tower.

Property hunters with an eye for a bargain can reportedly now save up to half a million smackers on one of these nice little flats, and it’s all because of an oversupply of similar property up and down the Gold Coast. Actually, I should say up and down the Queensland coast, because what’s happening with Q1’s prices is fast becoming endemic to upscale unit developments in major coastal centres from Cairns to Coolangatta.

Take luxury residential resort developer Juniper. The owner of, among other developments, the Sea Temple spa resorts in Palm Cover and Port Douglas, Juniper last year canned a third Sea Temple slated for Yorkey’s Knob, 10 minutes north of Cairns Airport. With so much inventory of its type coming on to the market, Juniper could not command the sort of prices it achieved two years earlier with its first Sea Temple.

Property goss around the traps now is that three-bedroom townhouse-style villas at Sea Temple Port Douglas, which listed 12 months ago at about $2.25 million apiece, are now changing hands for about $1 million.

This pattern is great news if you’re ready to hurry in while stocks last, because over the much longer term you’re almost certain to see decent capital growth. What’s not so great is if you bought off the plan and are ready to exit now. You might have to wait some time before your investment can be moved out of the bargain basement.