Looking to buy a Sunshine Coast home and want to know what is happening in the market? August local market update

Are you looking to buy a Sunshine Coast home and want to know what is happening in the market? Here is our August market update, from a local’s perspective!

For the Sunshine Coast and Noosa areas, the home purchasing market has become a more stabilised market for buyers. Rising interest rates have not had a significant price impact for buyers of premium properties in the $4M + range in areas like Noosa Sound, Sunshine Beach and Noosa Waters (among others).

Sunshine Coast Home Values Market Update

According to Corelogic, Noosa home values found a floor in February 2023, however the typical home value in Noosa Heads is still worth around $315,000 more than it was at the onset of COVID. There has been a similar level of performance across housing types in this region, an interesting point in this August market update.

Median house values across selected Sunshine Coast suburbs according to CoreLogic’s market update:

 

Suburb	Median Value	5 Year change (Aug 23)	Median Days on Market
Noosa Heads	$2.38M	44.1 %	65
Noosaville	$1.61M	48.2%	47
Peregian Beach	$1.67 M	46.3%	52
Sunrise Beach	$1.78 M	49.8%	63
Tewantin	$965K	42.5%	56
Coolum	$1.17 M	49.8%	54
Mooloolaba	$1.38 M	47.9%	41
Buderim	$1.06M	43.4%	33

Examples of Sunshine Coast homes purchased in the price range of $1.5 – $3 million in August include:

• 16 Winbirra Way Noosa Heads (4 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 630m2 block in the Cooloola Estate, a convenient location within Noosa) – purchased for $1.7M
• 10 Casuarina Court Noosaville (4 bedroom, beautifully renovated home on 2,247m2 in a quiet street in the back of Noosaville away from the river) – purchased at auction for $2.35M
• 22 Sorrento Avenue Coolum Beach (5 bedroom home in one of the Avenues of Coolum Beach, walking distance to the beach) – settled for $1.725 million
• 7 Wildapple Court, Noosa Heads (3 bedroom architecturally designed home in an increasingly popular area of Noosa Heads called Elysium) – purchased at auction for $2.4 million.

Listings of quality homes have remained fairly tight across the coast, and this has kept discounting rates lower, an interesting point in this months market update. Those who don’t have to sell may be holding off until there is more certainty around interest rates. According to SQM Research, new listings across the Sunshine Coast have remained at a consistent level since February 2023. However, looking at the year-on-year changes and 5 year average for new listings, Proptrack reported in August that Regional Queensland (of which Sunshine Coast is a part) saw a drop of 20.4% over the last 12 months in new listings, and 3.1% drop in average listings over a 5 year average.

 

Buyer sentiment in this market update

Home buyer “FOMO” (fear of missing out) of the COVID period has notably reduced – buyers are also more cautious and selective in their purchases and bide their time until the right home comes up, although we are still seeing a lot of people at home inspections. According to Proptrack, the year-on-year change in monthly preliminary sales reduced by 10% between June 2022 and June 2023.

There are more properties that have been on the market for more than 30 days, reflected also in the median days on market for houses across the Sunshine Coast now at 73 days.

 

Source: SQM Research 

Auction clearance rates

According to CoreLogic, auction clearance rates on the Sunshine Coast for August sat at 46.9%. Compare this to Brisbane (67%), Sydney (70.3% and Melbourne (65.6%). While we are still seeing multiple registered bidders at auctions, there appears to be more caution by buyers in raising their paddles during the auction. In addition more buyers have particular finance or settlement conditions, which preclude them from bidding at an auction and signing an unconditional contract.

Interestingly we are also observing more homes coming on the market with a selling strategy of “Expressions of Interest” or with no price listed (as an alternative to the auction method of selling). The expressions of interest process involves buyers who are interested in the property invited to put in their best and final offer in writing to purchase a property, on/or before a fixed date and time (like a blind auction). For buyers, this selling strategy can be off-putting, as there may not appear to be transparency in price or process.

Examples of homes we’re inspecting this week:

• 7 Sydney Street Tewantin – new 4 bedroom home off Gympie Terrace, on 510m2 (being sold via Expressions of Interest)
• 17 Sarah Court Noosa Heads – Stephen Kidd designed home, with some work required, in a gated complex on Cooloola Hill in Noosa Heads – listed at offers over $1.95 million
• 60 Orient Drive Sunrise Beach – 3 bedroom renovated home with ocean views and 2 minute walk to Sunrise Beach. It last sold in 2020 for $3.1 million and goes to Auction September 23^rd.

Rental market update

Vacancy rates for the last month on the Sunshine Coast were reported by SQM Research to be 1.6%, compared to 0.7% at the same time last year. This is a decent increase, however still a shortage (as with most other regions, which is very well documented). A 3% vacancy rate is considered to be the equilibrium point where the market is balance between landlords and renters.

August Market Update Conclusion

If you’re looking to move to the Sunshine Coast, or buy in the region, the next few months may present good opportunities to look to purchase. Quality homes and those in premium locations are still fairly resilient to prices because of the lack of supply. However, if more homes are listed on the market during the popular Spring / Summer selling season, this may result in competition amongst sellers for buyers which hasn’t happened for some time up here. There are still buyers actively looking for property, but there is a degree of caution in this market in the short term due to interest rate uncertainty.

Long term, the Sunshine Coast continues to lead the list for internal migration from the cities, with a 16.6% share of all net internal migration (according to the latest Regional Movers Index), so the Sunshine Coast will continue to attract those seeking a life work balance.

If you would like to discuss your next Sunshine Coast home purchase, or anything in this report with our Sunshine Coast Buyers’ Agents, please get in touch. You can also follow us on Instagram or LinkedIn.