Rising Coastal Suburb Prices Predicted

Coastal suburb house prices in Sydney and the Gold Coast are tipped to climb over the next two years, a new report shows.

Data calculated by Select Residential Property predicts a rise of up to 23.05% in southern Sydney suburb Gymea Bay and 21.6% in northern beaches suburb Warriewood.

Based on housing supply and data indicators — which indicates a want for larger properties, close to the water and further from the CBD as driving factors – the median house price in Gymea Bay is set to rise by $311,711 to 1,664, 359 and in Warriewood by $360,310 to $2,025,330.

In determining the price trajectory for a suburb, Select Residential Property research director Jeremy Sheppard takes into account 17 demand and supply metrics, including auction clearance rates, vacancy rates, discounting levels, days on market and the number of properties available to arrive at a ‘suburb score’.

“The list of areas with the highest growth potential all have high demand relative to supply and all scored well above 80, which are historically reflective of double-digit growth rates,” said Mr Sheppard.

Across the country, house values in the Gold Coast’s Elanora and Worongary are also expected to grow over the next 24 months, indicating a potential 22% each. Elsewhere, Melbourne’s Keilor Park and Diamond Creek are to see 10% and Adelaide’s Cumberland Park is forecast to grow by 20.6%.

Queensland’s Airlie Beach and South Townsville are expected to see unit value drop by 8.5% and 8% respectively. Similarly, the report predicts South Bunbury and Bunbury in Western Australia is staring down an 8.6% and 7% drop respectively.

Idaho is not a place that’s often associated with Medieval castles, but a pair have just hit the market for $6.25 million.

The imposing stone structures have towers, turrets, ramparts, arrow-slit windows and even a drawbridge, and might just be the most authentic-looking castles this side of the Atlantic.

“Who expects to see a castle like this in Idaho?” said listing agent Brenda Burk of Coldwell Banker Schneidmiller Realty, who brought the property to the market last week. They are, she said, “extremely unusual.”

Schweitzer Castle and Château de Melusine, as they’re known, stand within Schweitzer Mountain Resort in the Selkirk Mountains and overlook the nearby mountain resort town of Sandpoint. They take in panoramic views of Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho’s largest lake.

The pair of ski-in/ski-out homes each have three bedrooms, two bathrooms and three stories, Burk explained. They are “so authentic,” she said. “Every single stone was handlaid.”

Schweitzer Castle, she said, wasn’t built for “functionality,” but has been modernized and adapted and now has everything a 21st-century residence requires, along with a dungeon, which for some buyers may also be a requisite.

The chateau, meanwhile, has a hot tub room with mountain views, as well as a garage.

The property is being sold furnished, and will come complete with the hand-carved statues, armor, mounted swords, stained-glass windows and a host of antiques dating to the 15th and 16th centuries.

The owner, an antique collector who couldn’t be reached for comment, “is always looking for that hidden jewel and he found that here,” Burk said.

The next custodian is likely to stem from a varied pool of buyers, Burk said, that would include “the trophy-home buyer, someone who can say ‘I own a castle.’”

The property could also appeal to someone looking for a vacation home, or a multi-generational estate, and beyond that “there’s the dreamers,” she said. “We definitely try to market to people who like Medieval history or maybe do Renaissance fairs.”

The seller “really wants it to go to someone with the same passion.”

Rising Coastal Suburb Prices Predicted

Suburbs in Sydney are set for 23% growth in 24 months.

The imposing stone structures, with towers, turrets and a hot tub room, lord over the landscape near the mountain resort town of Sandpoint.