A 763 SQUARE METRE block of land at 14 Watersleigh Ave, Mallabula changed hands recently for $419, 000. Medowie Real Estate agents Curtis & Blair handled the transaction.

This, in itself is nothing unusual, but when you consider previous sales in the area, it is something of a record.

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You see, a little over a year ago and just behind this block, a neat two-bedroom, two-storey house with a double garage and bushland views changed hands for a mere $415,000.

What’s more it did not have drainage problems and it’s land area was greater (780 sq metres).

Coastal Real Estate’s Mary Breaden gives us an insight into what’s happening in today’s market.

“There is no new land being developed for sale out this way,” she remarked.

“The few blocks on offer have seen a big jump in the asking price,” she added.

“Rents have risen and it is very hard to find a vacant house,” she said.

“Investors buy up properties which have doubled in price over the past five years or so and they increase the rent to give them a reasonable return,” she concluded.

Meanwhile, Portside Real Estate Principal David Keers believes that the current boom will continue.

“The Covid crisis has seen a great wave of people wanting to escape the cities and head for a seachange or treechange lifestyle with less stress,” he said.

“They come cashed up and our asking prices for similar dwellings in the cities seem cheap,” he suggested.

“Our current problem is stock.

“Locals don’t want to sell up and go elsewhere and the demand is unrelenting,” he stated.

“Waterfronts in particular are in great demand and coming sales should reach new highs,” he concluded.

By Geoff WALKER