Hastings Street Real Estate

• View the report from April 2005

One of Australia's most favoured holiday destinations and the focal point of Noosa Heads. Hastings Street is approximately 600m in length lined with boutique shopping, relaxed first class restaurants and holiday apartment complexes. Leafy sub-tropical trees soften and shade this beautiful boulevard.

There are twelve beachside resort complexes, consisting of approximately 540 holiday apartments including the Sheraton Noosa Resort and 65 assorted shops and restaurants. On the most prestigious beachfront side overlooking spectacular Laguna Bay there are almost 280 apartments in 12 resort complexes and about 64 retail services all catering to a variety of holiday makers from the young, the elderly, the day to day mums and dads to the many celebrities, movie and sports stars enjoying the ultimate holiday atmosphere.

This pristine sandy beach continues along Noosa Spit to the picturesque Noosa River mouth aligned with parkland, sheltered bathing beaches and heavy vegetation with abundant wildlife. Boardwalks continue along the total length of this protected north-facing cove and meander right to the National Park. Some 2.5 million tourists a year enjoy this special ambience taking pleasure in "the quiet life", dining, walking, bathing, surfing and generally spoiling themselves.

There is currently around $800million worth of real estate along this prestigious strip. All complexes are strata-titled and owned by individuals with the exception of Sheraton Noosa and Seahaven Resort. Capital growth has been phenomenal, with values generally doubling every five to six years consistently over the last 25 year period. However, in comparison to other elite world destinations the prices still seem very modest.Hastings Street investments offer good returns (created by high occupancy rates), considerable tax advantages and exceptional capital growth not to mention the sublime pleasure of personal use.

Hastings Street Real Estate Market Report

Again, as in the last report, the market has continued to settle down but the property market in Hasting Street is still a niche market which seems to attract a lot of enquiry, a lot of buyer activity and a lot of interest. But is the big picture any different to what the market perceives to be some of the best Real Estate in Australia? Firstly, let us compare the number of completed sales in Hastings St with the number of sales in Noosa in general for Units. For this exercise, we will use the average over the 10 year period. Hastings Street accounts for a total number of 856 transactions; with the Sebel Resort's (or Laguna on Hastings) total being 166 - nearly 20% of these sales. Noosa on the other hand had 8650 unit sales in the same 10 year period which means Hastings Street has been responsible for approximately 10% of total sales in the area.

Hastings Street median price for 2005 is $650,000, rising from a median price of $300,000 in 1995, and includes units on both sides of the street. On the surface, this looks like a solid investment over a 10 year period (116.6%) or approx 11.66% per annum. But over the last 5 years, and this includes the property boom, the median price in 2000 was $730,000 and shows a decline of approx 10.9%.

So is it a buyer's or a seller's market?

Hastings Street is a niche market that seems to have a little of both; sellers are able to always attract buyers into the market place and buyers with $39,830,316.00 of settled sales seem to still have a lot of confidence in the street, with a more few sales in November and December which are not included in this amount, showing that this small part of Noosa has defied the odds and performed well over the last year. When you look at the graphs produced to track these price movements, and if you compare the slice of settled sales in Hasting Street atop the whole of the Noosa Heads 4567 postcode of 317 settled sales (again not including November and December), which totals a huge $362,279,540.00, it seems to indicate that the market is somewhat still undervalued and continues to represent good value to buyers.

The median seems to have marked time for the last 5 years, after steady growth during the previous 5 years. This could be contributed to the recent popularity of Noosaville as a preferred location, the ongoing parking problems existing in Hastings St, and the aging of certain unit complexes. There are still some good opportunities to pick up units in the street and upgrade the internal appearance. Maison la Plage is in a prime beachfront position and is about to undergo a structural refurbishment, which is stated will highlight the opportunities for this type of activity (refurbishment). Where owners and agents alike believe the capital invested will be amply rewarded with the final value exceeding pre-renovation value plus costs.

The French Quarter Resort showed a median price gain over the 5 year period 1995  1999 of 58.8% or approx 11.77% average each year. Since the beginning of 2000 to the last part of 2005, the gain has been substantially less. Median price in 2000 was $435,000 and now, in 2005 it is $496,500 - a gain of only 14.1% over the 5 year period or average of 2.8% per year, which again includes the boom years.

Currently there are over 35 apartments for sale in Hastings St on the dry side of the street and 6 on the beachfront. Most apartments for sale are in the Sebel ranging from $510,000 to $950,000 and the French Quarter in the $398,000 to $585,000 range, both 1 and 2 bedrooms. There is also a dual key apartment for sale in Hotel Laguna. So, there is quite a choice out there for the smart investor who comes to grip with the opportunities that are available and we at RE/MAX Noosa would love the opportunity to assist you with your next purchase. There have been few recorded sales in the street in the last 3 month period, indicating that a few owners might be prepared to listen to offers. Five of these sales were on the dry side, three in Bella Casa and the others in the Sebel. The apartment on the beachside was located in Netanya and produced a $1.95 million sale. Buyers take note!

Report updated December 2005

For further details please contact: Corynne Moxham on 0408 765 514 or corynnemoxham@remaxnoosa.com.au, or Derek Cunningham on 0438 741 167 or derekc@remaxnoosa.com.au