Australians rush to the Whitsundays

WITH international borders closed, Australians are looking closer to home for a holiday and many are fixing on the Whitsundays mainland.

Ray White Whitsunday principal Mark Beale has seen the influx of numbers firsthand with both buyers and holidaymakers flocking to the beachside paradise.The Ray White Whitsunday office has been inundated with seachangers, with sixteen $1,000,000 plus sales in the Airlie Beach market in the last six months. A number that has skyrocketed by more than 300 per cent compared to the same time year.“The market is quite strong but we are seeing a different demographic of people,” Mr Beale said.“We are doing almost 100 per cent more sales compared to pre-COVID times last year and the numbers are just outstanding.“There are a lot of families moving to the region that are involved in mining or other jobs like nursing and technician roles. It’s quite encouraging that we are not just reliant on one industry such as tourism or mining alone."

Recently, Lot 7 the Cove (pictured at top) sold for just under $3,000,000, plus $500,000 for a marina berth to New South Wales buyers who purchased sight unseen. Mr Beale said the buyers are now holiday letting the property between coming up to stay with friends and family. In the first two weeks of it being online through the Ray White Whitsunday holiday rental office, Whitsunday Vacations, the office received $70,000 worth of bookings.

Meanwhile, the most enquired holiday rentals on Whitsunday Vacations are 15 Kara Cres, Airlie Beach and 23 The Cove, Airlie Beach (pictured above).

“Holidayers are checking out the calendar and seeing a property that is almost fully booked out. It's getting to the point where the owners need to book their own holidays way in advance or they will miss out,” Mr Beale said.Mr Beale said holiday letting has been going very strong and last week they booked over 140 nights through Whitsunday Vacations at an average of $750 a night.“The properties we are letting are middle to high end products and our stock starts at $600 a night but most go up to $1000 a night and then the Mandalay homes are above $12,000 a night,” he said.

(Pictured above: Ray White Whitsunday agent Simon Dymott has just listed “Azimuth” 129A Gloucester Ave, Hideaway Bay with a price guide of $3,950,000.) “What we are finding is that people from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane who would normally be travelling overseas are saying 'let’s go to Queensland'.“Buyers also want a property up here that they can lease during the year and get holiday accommodation income from, then come up and stay with family friends for the holidays.“They are getting between $10,000 and $15,000 income a month and a beautiful property right on the water.”