Where once city slickers would escape their hectic lives by seeking solace in remote NSW coastal, towns and buying an old shack, these days slick has been replaced by chic and that old shack will no longer do.
 

The boom in the holiday homes market in NSW over rite past 10 wars has seen average beachfront property prices, in places such as Byron Ray and Soldiers Point rise from about $600,000 to in excess of $1 million.

Buyers, cashed, up from the Sydney property boom and. demanding luxurious abodes, have largely fuelled the holiday-home market peak by investing in new developments or building plush homes on prime land.

Expert valuer at AVG Valuers, Ron Gedeon, said the NSW North Coast was experiencing one of the fastest growth spurts of any regional area in NSW. "There definitely is a trend towards buying holiday homes with a view to retiring in 5 or 10 years time. The reason people are buying now is because the quality of the property they can buy now is much better than what they can get later as prices are expected to continue to rise" Mr Gedeon said. His company had spent some time analysing the data on the North Coast market and Mr Gedeon had recently been invited to give the keynote speech on the North Coast property market at a Mortgage industry conference.

Coffs Harbour is one area where there has been substantial activity particularly around Sapphire Beach, midway between Brisbane and Sydney just six minutes north of Coffs Harbour. Rated the next "hot spot* earlier this year by Australian property forecaster Residex, property prices in Sapphire Beach are surging.

Property developer Barry Franz, who four years ago uprooted his family from Melbourne after falling in love with Sapphire Beach and the lifestyle it offered, is one of a growing number of new residents heading to the region.

In 2002 Mr Franz purchased the most sought-after piece of land in Sapphire Beach for $1.8 million. It is situated on a headland jutting out over the beach and overlooking the Pacific Ocean and the Solitary Islands Marine Park.

Mr Franz spent the past 3 years submitting plans and designs to Coffs Harbour City Council to gain a DA to develop the site.

"Four sets of architectural plans later, we finally received approval to build three separate, executive dwellings and have laid the first slab of concrete Mr Franz said. It will be an integrated development with the three properties being built to a standard approved by the council" Mr Franz said.

The Sun-Herald, July 16, 2006

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