Like most regional areas in NSW, the Richmond-Tweed region’s rebound out of the global financial crisis has not been as strong as recorded in the capital cities, though they have recently returned to peak levels.

Over the past 12 months, the greatest annual growth in Richmond-Tweed has been enjoyed by Lennox Head (+19.4%), Terranora (+18.6%), Evans Head (+17.6%), Ocean Shores (+14.5%), East Lismore (+13.8%), Casino (+11.1%) and Lismore Heights (+10.8%).

For bargain house-hunters, houses with median prices under $250,000 can be found in Coraki, Kyogle, South Lismore and Broadwater.

The findings were released this week in the State of the State NSW Property Report, a report prepared by RP Data, Australia’s largest property research house, on behalf of St George Bank. The report shows NSW property prices have stabilised, on average, despite growth in some areas and falls in others.

Chief Economist for St George Bank, Justin Smirk, said the pause in average NSW regional property prices offers home buyers a chance to take stock and carefully consider their options.

“With prices back to 2004 levels, the easy bargains have gone. However, we believe there are still opportunities for home buyers who are prepared to do the research. This report is a good starting point,” he said.

“The good news about the Richmond-Tweed region property market, with rises in some towns and suburbs and falls in others, is it provides an opportunity for well-researched home buyers to carefully weigh up properties and make a smart move into the market.

“Affordability remains the biggest factor in NSW, given the shortage of new housing. Areas with higher rising incomes will continue to see increased residential property prices, while more affordable housing, typically in lower-income areas, will remain subdued.”

Mr Smirk said that, overall, the Hunter and Illawarra are predicted to have the strongest prospects for growth in regional NSW.

“Over the next 12 to 15 months we can expect to see some moderation in prices in the outer regions of Sydney as well as in certain parts of regional NSW as rising interest rates further constrain affordability of housing. However, given a broad based underlying shortage of housing in NSW, it is unlikely that we will experience a collapse in house prices. Fundamentally the NSW economy remains strong and the insufficient supply of new housing means affordability remains the biggest hurdle to potential purchases,” said Mr Smirk.

As of December 14, Elders will trade as McGrath Ballina/Byron.

However, the business will continue to operate out of its River Street premises.

The Ballina office will service the broader Ballina/Byron Bay region. McGrath also will open a Tweed Heads office which will service the NSW-Queensland border districts.

John McGrath, Chief Executive of McGrath, said the company’s progression along the North Coast represented its strategic focus on key lifestyle regions in its national franchise expansion. 

Mr McGrath described the Ballina, Byron and Tweed regions as one of the most exciting and desirable real estate markets along the Eastern Seaboard and said it would be highly suited to McGrath’s innovative approach to marketing and technology.

“Ballina, Byron and Tweed Heads have a similar customer base to Sydney – we’re talking about intelligent, savvy home owners desiring greater service and a broader marketing reach in the sale of their properties,” he said.

“They recognise that buyer demographics in their towns are changing, with a larger proportion of buyers now coming outside their area, especially downsizers.

“We believe that McGrath can satisfy their hunger for better strategic marketing and the maximising of buyer competition.”
 
The Ballina, Tweed Heads and Palm Beach offices will be operated by principals John Nicolson, Ian Mills and David Mills, respectively. 

With more than 75% of internet hits on their website originating from Sydney, the trio described McGrath as a natural choice for the future development of their businesses.

The offices join McGrath after 23 years with the Elders network.

The Ballina office has been the national group’s No 1 non-metro office for the majority of the past 20 years.

It enjoys approximately 35% local market share and boasts Ballina’s largest property management rent roll with 625 residential properties and 245 commercial and industrial properties.

McGrath Ballina principal, John Nicolson, said Ballina/Byron Bay is one of Australia’s favourite sea change areas, while hinterland suburbs such as Bangalow and Alstonville were attracting tree changers.

Improving transport and infrastructure is advancing this trend, with daily Ballina-Sydney flights through Virgin Blue, Jetstar and Rex and highway upgrades shortening travel times to one hour for the Gold Coast and two hours for Brisbane.

The Ballina region continues to progress with the council pursuing a plan for marine facilities in Richmond River over the next few years to encourage the boating market.

Mr Nicolson said he and his business partners already had plans for a satellite offices in Byron Bay. 

“Changing to McGrath allows us to take our businesses to new levels of service and marketing,” he said.

“McGrath’s exceptionally strong presence in Sydney combined with outstanding marketing and an extensive educated and affluent buyer database made it a natural fit.”

McGrath Ballina will service suburbs from Evans Head in the south to the northern areas of Ballina, Lennox Head, Suffolk Park, Byron Bay, Brunswick Heads and Ocean Shores. 

In the west, it will service Lismore, Alstonville, Bangalow and surrounding rural areas.

The Ballina office will also have an Oxygen Home Loans division – the financial services arm of McGrath. The office is at 176 River Street, Ballina.  The phone number is 02 6686 8000.

PICTURE: John McGrath with Ballina principal John Nicolson.

With full support of regional estate agents and builders, Elevation is well on the way to a sell-out of its latest release and is already in planning for construction of the next stage, for expected completion early next year.

Elevation is positioned at the very top of North Creek Road in Lennox Head, with uninterrupted hinterland views preserved in perpetuity through zonings.

Nurtured as a country estate by the sea, the community is bounded by majestic established trees and an historic dry stone wall built by the Henderson family in the 1850s.

Generous plantings of mature native trees and a state-of-the-art childrens’ playground with swings, a slide, cubbies and climbing structures have been key factors in many of the estate sales.

“We’ve just last week received DA approval for Stage Three at Elevation from Ballina Council,” said Gary Ingram, from developer Urbex.

“I’m not a bit surprised at the strong sales and I expect to see a lot more. It’s superb land at a superb price and there is no other comparable land available in Lennox Head at this point.

“It’s a good time to buy and the market is reflecting that.”

On-site Marketing Manager Garth Hudson said: “We have 14 homesites available, including some of our best, at prices likely never to be repeated in the rising market predicted for the final quarter of this year.

“For buyers with an eye for value, we have a great selection of high, level blocks some with ocean glimpses and all with ocean breezes, ranging in price from $260,000 and in size up to a very private 2334m².”

As growing numbers of Sydneysiders move in, Lennox is accommodating them as well as the increasing numbers of Byron Bay residents taking a seachange to Lennox.

A sophisticated retail and restaurant strip is quietly developing and luxurious apartments are appearing not only in the beachfront strip but within the village itself.

To date locals have been by far the biggest purchasers at Elevation, with more than 70% of sales going to Northern Rivers residents.

Call Garth on 1300 762 552 to chat about Elevation or visit www.elevationlennoxhead.com.au

“With three children we were impressed with the playground, the level building blocks, the sea breezes and views,” he said.

The recent drops in interest rates and the increase in the first home owners grant have seen interest in new land in the coastal village escalate.

Sonya Keenan is Marketing Manager for Indigo Group, joint venture developers of Elevation with Urbex.

“In this current market we have set prices at the lowest possible level” she said.

“Lennox Head is protected for buyers compared with elsewhere in the country.

“We have projects along the East Coast of Australia and Lennox is unique.

“There is very limited residential land here, the infrastructure is good and access is tremendous, with ongoing upgrades to the Pacific Highway and the local presence of a national airport.”

Mr Radburn said: “You won’t buy land in Lennox Head at a better price.”

Mr Radburn purchased his block in February 2008 and plans to move in either April or May, depending upon the rain. Until then the family are renting in Byron Bay’s Links Apartments.

Blocks released recently are selling for the same price or better than Stage One, with blocks in Stage Two going for between $260,000 and $355,000.

There is also a range of well-located architect-designed home and land packages available as a very special offer within Stage Two, priced from $525,000.

Local developer Neil Hoolihan can also spot a good buy. He too has purchased at the community.

“It’s position position here at Elevation” he said. “It’s handy to the beach and has good red volcanic soil.”

Elevation has been nurtured as a country estate by the sea, with an historic dry stone wall dating back to the 1850s bounding the community to the east.

To the west the estate offers panoramic hinterland views that are preserved in perpetuity through zonings.

The developers have invested heavily in landscaping to complement the site’s iconic natural features.

Generous plantings of mature native trees and shrubs support the estate’s majestic established trees.

A ‘slow movement’ environment is being promoted with extensive landscaped pathways linking residents to community facilities and each other.

To date locals have been by far the biggest purchasers at Elevation, with more than 70 per cent of sales going to local Northern Rivers residents.

Call Lew on 1300 762 552 to chat about Elevation or visit www.elevationlennoxhead.com.au

The report by PRDnationwide Queensland research analyst Aaron Maskrey provides an area overview of population, age structure and area characteristics while highlighting the housing market and outlook within the area.

“The Ballina and Lennox Head area offer an affordable range of coastal housing options for residents wanting a ‘sea-change’. These ideal locations are supported by strong infrastructure such as employment, health, education, and road networks,” Mr Maskrey said.

The area’s housing market has continued to increase in price regardless of the long-term decline is sales activity.

“The release of new land estates has decreased the number of housing sales and many people are choosing to purchase land for building their new home compared to investing in older stock,” Mr Maskrey said.

This growth declined between January and June 2008 with the number of house sales declining to just 969 transactions.

The median house price increased during the six months leading up to September 2008 to $525,000 – a steady growth rate of 8 per cent.

The bulk of transactions during this period was achieved within the $500,000 to $599,000 price bracket – making up 23 per cent of sales.

“An impressive 20 per cent of sales occurred in the price range of $700,000-plus,” Mr Maskrey said.

East Ballina recorded 26 sales – the most settled transactions between April and September 2008.

Mr Maskrey said that due to the recent economic conditions, the unit market experienced a decrease by 33 per cent in the six months leading up to September 2008, to register 108 settled unit transactions.

The median price saw a slight decrease of $3500 to record $361,500 for the year ending September 2008.

The majority of unit sales were recorded within the $200,000 to $299,999 bracket – with a total of 32 per cent of sales.

“The Ballina and Lennox Head unit market has experienced significant transactions in the upper end of the market, with 7 per cent of sales occurring in the $700,000-plus price range,” he said.

“The most affordable unit sale took place in Isabella Drive for $185,000, while the highest-priced sale was for $950,000 in Pinnacle Row.

“There is no shortage of demand for vacant land in the area.

“During the six-month period ending September 2008, the Ballina and Lennox Head area recorded 17 vacant land sales – registering a median price of $430,000.

“The reason why this trend of low transactions has been seen in the area is due to developers controlling the amount of land being released onto the market so that maximum sale prices are attained.

“Annual growth was at an impressive 19.4 per cent which equates to a $70,000 increase over the past year.

“Vacant land sale prices varied during the six months ending September 2008 from $130,500 on 860 sqm, to $2.75 million on 3,935 sqm.”

“Regardless of the stage of the property cycle, there are always new hot spots emerging that have the potential to out-perform the market and deliver above-average growth to investors,” said national property market forecaster Terry Ryder of www.hotspotting.com.au.

Mr Ryder says that Ballina and Yamba is set to benefit from one of the country’s most influential pieces of new transport infrastructure – the Tugun bypass on the southern Gold Coast.

“This newly opened bypass makes northern NSW more accessible to the larger population bases of south-east Queensland,” he said.

“Ballina is still relatively affordable and are home to a number of new residential developments.”

Mr Ryder has identified a new batch of such locations worthy of real estate buyers’ attention in his latest quarterly The Ryder Report.

The report includes new hot spot alerts for each Australian State and Territory:

New South Wales: Ballina/Yamba

Queensland: Bowen Hills/Newstead

Victoria: The Surf Coast

South Australia: Strathalbyn

Western Australia: Boddington

Australian Capital Territory: Acton

Tasmania: Cambridge

No part of the Northern Territory was recommended as a future hotspot due to the massive downtown in sales across what is a rapidly cooling market, according to The Ryder Report.

The BankWest Key Worker Housing Affordability Report released this week based on ‘key workers’ salaries found Byron Bay the most expensive place to live in regional NSW, with Kiama second, Ballina third and Tweed fourth.

The study analysed house prices in 540 Australian Local Government Areas and cross-referenced them against wages and salary data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Australian Government Workplace Authority.

The report used a median house price in Ballina Shire of $435,000.

Average salaries used in the study were: nurses $48,661; teachers $54,835; police officers $65,913; fire-fighters $55,783; and ambulance officers $61,893.

An area was classified as unaffordable if median house prices are more than five times a key worker’s annual earnings.

Councillors David Wright and Keith Johnson and Mayor Phillip Silver gave an update on local issues.

Cr Wright presented to the meeting an update on the new wharf which is about to go through the tendering process and also other details of this development.

Cr Johnsonthen explained likely outcomes of the flood study and its impact on the town.

Other issued raised by those in attendance included the continuing problem with the speed limit on the highway and no action from the RTA despite further accidents, including a fatality.

The need for bus shelters in the town was discussed and supported.

Councillors were urged to see if the town could have better ongoing maintenance in drainage and also a more consistant and reliable mowing program.

The meeting also supported a motion requesting the councillors to see if the local grounds could be marked for the primary schools carnival as this request had previously been rejected.

A report by the local policeman was presented indicating that the town was at present experiencing very few problems and certainly compared very favourably with other towns in the Shire.

The next meeting will be on March 27 at 7pm in the Wardell Hall and all interested are invited to attend.

Council is conducting a comprehensive community consultation process in order to determine the views of the community on how the study area could be developed to best meet the future needs of the wider community.  The community consultation process will have two main focuses:

• to provide information to the community on the master plan process and on opportunities, constraints and issues within the study area; and
• to obtain from the community, ideas, visions and concepts for the future development of the study area.

The community consultation process will commence with an Open Day on Saturday 5 May 2007 to be held between 9 am and 12 noon in River Street, Ballina, adjacent to the pedestrian lights. Members of the community are invited to attend to discuss the project with the GeoLINK team. Residents are also encouraged to provide feedback, ideas, visions and concepts in relation to how the study area might be developed.  Feedback forms will be available on the day.

Comments will be received by GeoLINK up until Monday 21 May 2007.

The GeoLINK team will also be available to answer any telephone and email enquiries for people who are unable to attend on the day.  The contact details for the project consultant are:

GeoLINK

  Simon Waterworth

  Project Manager

  submissions@geolink.net.au

  Telephone 02 6651 7666.

The AMP Foundation has announced that it will match any money raised on the day, dollar-for-dollar up to a total of $10,000.

Bob Grant, of the Futures Fund, said that two major donations last week brought the amount raised to more than $120,000.

Real Estate Multi List Agents, represented by Peter Savage (Century 21, Ballina), Peter Carmont (Ballina Professionals), Chris Harley (Lismore Real Estate) and Richard Campbell (L J Hooker Ballina), this week presented a cheque for $5000 to Mr Grant.

That donation followed one of $2000 by the Ballina on Richmond Rotary Club.

A good and generous turnout at the charity golf day, which is being organised by the Rotary Club of Ballina, is expected to close the gap on the $150,000 total.

The day will have a non-golfer-friendly format, so anyone can play. There will be a barbecue from 11am with a noon hit-off for the four-ball ambrose event.

Entries can be made by phoning the Ballina Golf Club office on 6686 2766 or by email at admin@ballinagolfclub.com.au