Mixed reactions as hinterland tops Coast property price hikes

385 Blackall Range Road.

by Janine Hill

STATISTICS which point to hinterland areas leading Sunshine Coast property price growth have drawn a mixed reaction from real estate agents.

According to property data firm CoreLogic, nine of the 10 Sunshine Coast locations which recorded the strongest price growth during the most recent quarter were all west of the Bruce Highway or straddling it.

Mapleton 8.9% growth

Mapleton topped the leader board with an 8.9% in median price to $904,653, followed by Glenview which was up by 8.1% to a median of $1,205,093, Mooloolah Valley where the median price rose by 7.3%to $1,002,143, Palmview, where the median price went up by 7.1% to $836,688 and Witta, which recorded a rise of 6.9% to a median of $1,027,608.

The median price for Glass House Mountains increased by 6.7% to $895,221, Rosemount properties were the seventh fastest growing, up by 6.5% to a median of $1.171,841, the median price of Montville properties rose by 5.6% to $961,578, and Forest Glen, where the median price went up by 5.1% to $965,960 was the 10th fastest growing region. Mooloolaba, where the median price increased by 5.4% to $1,444,342, came in ninth on the list of growth areas and was the only suburb on the coastal strip to make the top 10.

Andy Sharma, of Carolans First National, was not surprised to see Rosemount in the list of areas showing strong price growth.

Andy said there was always demand for properties in the Rosemount-Diddillibah area.

“It’s a popular area. A lot of people like the acreage and the feel of the mountains and the bush,” he said.

He said a property on Diddillibah Road recently sold at auction for almost $1 million, which was about $200,000 less than the owner hoped to achieve. 

But it needed money spent on it which would push it closer to the latest median price for the area.

Not a lot of faith

A representative from another agency, who declined to be named, did not put a lot of faith in the figures. 

The experienced agent said only 15-16 properties, or an average of two a month, had sold in Montville so far this year, meaning the sale of one particularly expensive property could skew quarterly figures dramatically.

“We don’t have the numbers to take a real bead on it,” he said. 

The agent said growth had slowed in a lot of areas and he worried that the figures could give vendors overly-high expectations of what their properties could achieve.

On the other hand, Andy said that interest rate rises had had no impact on sales in the Nambour area and price growth was still happening.