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By Sue Williams

February 12, 2021

The secret behind the Sunshine Coast's recent booming success
House prices on the Sunshine Coast jumped 10.2 per cent in 2020.

Sunshine Coast: Queensland's new crowning jewel in the post-Covid property landscape

Emerging from the shadow cast by COVID-19, Australia is saluting its newest prestige property star – Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

With multimillion-dollar homes enjoying stunning beach and river views, a laidback lifestyle, glamorous cafes restaurants and bars, a huge upgrade of the local infrastructure and tightly controlled development, it’s suddenly ticking all boxes.

Noosa Main Beach. Photo: iStock
Noosa Main Beach. Photo: iStock

“We’ve been deluged with people from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, the rest of Queensland and expats all wanting to buy and live here,” says Rebekah Offermann, of Tom Offermann Real Estate.

“And the highest demand has been in our bluest-chip areas, which have seen huge capital growth.”

Queues of cars were reported visiting property agencies in Noosa’s Hastings Street when borders with Victoria re-opened, and the latest Domain house report found prices in Noosa soared by 18 per cent in 2020.

Those for the Sunshine Coast as a whole jumped 10.2 per cent, with more than half of that growth in the last quarter of the year alone.

Agents report the market is particularly strong in the $5 million-plus bracket. Offermann’s office has sold no fewer than 35 homes over $5 million in the past year.

The highest price of those that can be disclosed was $18 million.

A scenic view of Noosa Hinterland in Queensland. Photo: Ezra Patchett / Tourism and Events Queensland
A scenic view of Noosa Hinterland in Queensland. Photo: Ezra Patchett / Tourism and Events Queensland

“The hinterland is also now doing particularly well, which I think is being driven by a bit of a Doomsday scenario from some people,” says Alex Harris, of Noosa4Sale.

“They’re buying five acres [2.02 hectares] and houses with rainwater and solar and want to keep chickens and grow vegetables and have some space from neighbours.

“A regular house in the area used to take four to six weeks to sell, but now it’s taking 10 days. We’re also selling a lot of property sight unseen by people who aren’t able, physically, to get here yet.”

Prestige buyers who want to live in Noosa choose Hastings Street, Little Cove or go to the waterfront at Noosa Sound, while just over the headland sits gorgeous Sunshine Beach. Moving south, for those wanting to be right on the ocean, are Castaways Beach, Marcus Beach and Peregian Beach, just north of Coolum Beach.

Others are migrating to the riverfront at Noosaville, either buying magnificent mansions on Gympie Terrace or knocking down older ones and rebuilding.

And, the hinterland has also seen a new surge of interest, with spots like Doonan, nestled between Noosa and Eumundi, a popular pick, as well as Lake Macdonald to its north-west and Cooroy farther west.

“The hinterland is now becoming as popular as the Byron hinterland,” says Alexander Payne, of David Berns Real Estate.

Cooroy Mountain Photo: Supplied
Cooroy Mountain Photo: Supplied

“People from all over Australia are now looking for a boutique resort lifestyle and they can find that there. Cooroy, for instance, is like the Toorak of the hinterland with some beautiful homes.”

At Cooroy Mountain, Stonelea, a master-built home on 6.5 hectares of private grounds complete with helicopter access, is on the market with a guide of more than $17 million, through Kate Cox, at Reed & Co Estate Agents.

“The level of the build is like that of a luxury hotel,” says Cox.

David Hedley-Ward, principal of McGrath Caloundra, likes farther south, spots such as Dicky Beach, Moffatt Beach and Shelly Beach, with Mooloolaba, Minyama and Buderim also close to his heart.

“I think the appeal of the Sunshine Coast will only keep building,” he says.

“There’s been so much investment in the region with the airport expansion, the huge health precinct at Kawana, the

upgrading of the internet and the improvement of the Bruce Highway, it can only continue to improve.”

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