The magnetic pull of the Indian Ocean and Perth’s metropolitan beaches have had a noticeable effect on property owners’ pockets and bank balances.
The magnetic pull of the Indian Ocean and Perth’s metropolitan beaches have had a noticeable effect on property owners’ pockets and bank balances.
According to research findings just released by the Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA), the state’s peak industry association representing landowners and developers, there is a significant difference in values between coastal and non-coastal land.
UDIA’s executive director, Marion Fulker, said the latest statistics showed that while all suburbs across the Perth metropolitan area had experienced price growth, coastal suburbs had experienced larger absolute price increases than other areas of the state.
“Lot prices in Perth metropolitan coastal suburbs have more than quadrupled since 1988 when the average lot price was $80,444 in 2004 dollars to $390,375 in 2004,” Mrs Fulker said.
“This equates to an average annual increase, CPI adjusted, since June 1991 of 9.7 per cent, in comparison to a non coastal adjusted average increase of 7.4 per cent per annum.
“Price rises in coastal locations have been significantly higher in the past five years.
“The CPI-adjusted average increase in coastal lot price since June 2000 is 13.8 per cent annually, while other Perth metropolitan suburbs averaged only 10 per cent annually.”
And coastal lots have also had the edge in regional areas, such as Bunbury, Busselton and Albany. UDIA’s findings show that from 1991 to 2004 the average CPI adjusted lot price of coastal lots in these areas increased by 6.1 per cent annually compared with non-coastal lots’ annual increases of 4.3 per cent.
“These figures show that living by the coast remains a very strong choice for purchasers in Western Australia,” Mrs Fulker said.
“Current statistics suggest that this trend is likely to persist.”
The pull of the Indian Ocean underlies the pressures local authorities are facing with regard to changing height restrictions and plot ratios.
The pressure is being felt across metropolitan Perth, as well as in key regional destinations.
Cedar Woods in Rockingham, Multiplex with the Cottesloe Beach Hotel and the controversy surrounding development at Scarborough reflect the demand for this style of living.
Under current zoning, restrictions limit height at Cottesloe to a maximum of three storeys, something the Quinlivan family, owners of the Ocean Beach Hotel for the past 35 years, believe requires updating.
Stan Quinlivan said it was time the OBH site was permitted to be the venue of a 21st century structure.
“It won’t be achieved with just a refurbishment or superficial changes – it needs a total start-from-scratch redevelopment, and that is why we have sought input from some of the best architects in the world,” Mr Quinlivan said.
And Cape Bouvard Investments is pushing for the development of a 16-storey project at Scarborough.
Cape Bouvard commercial director Lee Pinkerton has added to the pressure for redevelopment by claiming his company’s Scarborough plans would be in jeopardy if the height limit was restricted.
