|
Gold Coast developers prepare for Mexican
wave, By Lisa Pryor
Property Reporter - 10th April 2004
(Credit:
The Sydney Morning Herald)
Gold Coast property developers
will be shining their white shoes in preparation
for the expected influx of investors escaping
new property taxes in NSW.
With
south-east Queensland still in the grip of a property
boom, consumer advocates warn that the influx
will exacerbate the problem of real estate marketeers
charging one price for locals and another inflated
price to out-of-towners.
Real
estate critic Neil Jenman said he was already
receiving calls and emails from consumers indicating
that marketeers had stepped up their activity
since the new laws were announced.
"They'll
be the Pied Pipers leading people to the promised
land of Queensland," he said.
"They're
all booking seminars in the southern states."
Anthony
Field, principal of Elders Real Estate at Nambucca
Heads, says investors are already heading north.
"I've
had four sales fall over this morning directly
attributed to the Carr Government budget,"
he said on Thursday.
Unlike
in Queensland, NSW investors will soon face an
additional 2.25 per cent exit levy when they sell.
In
NSW, all investors will be lumped with a land
tax bill, while in Queensland properties on land
worth less than $275,997 are exempt.
Queensland
was already looking good to NSW investors before
these changes. Brisbane and the Gold Coast have
experienced massive price growth while the Sydney
market has faltered.
The
median price of a house in Brisbane leapt 40.5
per cent in 2003. Sydney prices increased by 7.2
per cent in the same period, Home Price Guide
figures show.
However,
the longer Brisbane growth rates are maintained
the greater the risk of prices overshooting and
then correcting, CommSec analysts concluded in
the Property Quarterly report, which was released
in March.
Then
again, the strong capital growth has been underpinned
by high levels of interstate migration, with 39,200
people moving to Queensland last financial year,
up 8000 on the year before.
Every
week, the Donald Property Group in Edgecliff has
been flying prospective buyers to Queensland on
a private jet to inspect Coral Cove, a resort-style
development with golf course near Bundaberg.
Katie
Gold, sales associate at Donald Property Group,
said she had noticed more interest from Sydney
buyers since the new taxes were announced.
"Since
Tuesday the callers were calling up saying 'we're
not going anywhere in NSW any more, we're not
interested. We're going to Queensland, that's
where the growth is'."
The
company was now looking further afield, seeking
hot spots in Adelaide and Perth.
Investors
venturing beyond their geographical comfort zone
could take action to make sure they would not
be ripped off, Mr Jenman said.
"They
get an independent lawyer, an independent valuer
and they check what happened to the clients that
bought from this company before," he said.
"I've
never seen anybody caught if they do those three
things."
Links:
The
Sydney Morning Herald
Articles
Sydney
siders head north, by Greg Tingle
Viewers'
true idol was a renovator's delight
Profiles
Gold
Coast
Queensland
Australia
|
