House prices set to average $1m

PRDnationwide sales consultant Sean Pallent and principal Joe Taylor believe Tweed house prices are on the way up in the next decade.

Crystal Spencer

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AVERAGE house prices across the Tweed Shire will be well above the $1 million mark in 10 years time, according to a new report.

An Australian Property Monitors (APM) report published in a Sydney newspaper predicted 10 out of 12 Tweed suburbs analysed would have median house prices above $1 million in 2020.

Murwillumbah, Tweed Heads, Tweed Heads West, Banora Point, Bilambil Heights, Tweed Heads South, Kingscliff and Bogangar are tipped to break the six-figure barrier.

Pottsville, South Murwillumbah and Terranora had insufficient data for the 10-year prices to be calculated.

AMP used data gathered from sales trends over the past decade and projected them over the next 10 years to arrive at the predictions.

The report shows the median prices doubling in the second half of the decade for many suburbs.

For example, it lists the Tweed Heads South median price of 2009 as $414,000. In three years, the report predicts it will jump to $489,703, then to $511,630 in five years, before increasing to $1,224,257 at the 10-year mark.

Two prominent Tweed real estate agents were split on the report.

PRDnationwide Coolangatta principal Gregg Taylor said if median prices in the Tweed hadn’t reached the $1 million mark in 10 years, “we are going backwards”.

“Typically what real estate agents say is if you buy a property, in 10 years time it will be worth twice that much,” Mr Taylor said.

He said the Tweed Coast and Gold Coast had well-positioned property markets, as they were growth areas which appealed to several demographics.

But Lance Cotterill of North Estate Agents said: “I don’t believe it and I don’t accept it”.

He was sceptical about the statistics and how they were calculated.

“Prices have doubled, even two-and-a-half times in some areas, over the past 10 years, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will happen in the next decade,” Mr Cotterill said.

“Things don’t happen like that in history.”

Mr Cotterill said there was no doubt median prices on the Tweed would increase over the next decade, but doubted they would double.

“We have a steady increase of five, six or even seven per cent a year, but over the past 12 months we have actually had a decrease in median prices.

“I don’t see things doing what they did over the past ten years – it is still a good market here, but not that good. If people believe the median price of property across the Tweed Coast will be more than $1 million in 10 years, then they better go out and buy some property now.”