A growing suburb that boasts location, infrastructure and services is attracting a host of home buyers with its more affordable prices.
Sippy Downs is 12 minutes from Mooloolaba Beach and includes the University of the Sunshine Coast, shopping precincts, jobs hubs, restaurants, schools, parklands, sports facilities and a proposed hospital.
About 120 houses and 75 units have been sold there during the past 12 months, despite a general slowing of property in the greater region since the highs experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Stack & Co Property Consultants agent Jack Ryan says more than 50 groups recently attended an open house inspection for a four-bedroom home with a pool on 700sqm. Eight offers were submitted, including three sight-unseen.
“The property hit the market strongly and inquiries were non-stop. My phone was blowing up,” he says.
The home at 74 Fitzwilliam Drive was ultimately purchased for $1,285,000: the suburb’s highest sale price this year.
My Ryan says the buyer initially looked in other suburbs nearby before they were told about the home at Sippy Downs and watched a video of it. And that appears to be a common theme: people opting for homes at Sippy Downs after scouring more noted neighbouring suburbs.
“Sippy Downs is not the first place they look at when they look at the Sunshine Coast,” he says.
“People know Mountain Creek and Buderim, which are nearby, so their search starts there, but then they come to understand the surroundings and what Sippy Downs has to offer. They realise it’s not too far away, and a property in Mountain Creek or Buderim would probably be $100,000 to $200,000 more. They do their research and come and look at Sippy Downs, where they can buy a home for less and can get more for their money.”
Mr Ryan says Sippy Downs has almost everything to accommodate buyers: “There is the university, Coles, (recently opened) Junk, parklands and it’s only a 12-minute drive to the beach and you can easily get on to the highway to Noosa and Brisbane.”
He expects the suburb to keep growing: “There is more land here and more units and apartments. I believe there will be more shops, too. The area is attractive to a lot of people: retirees, young couples, university students – all demographics.”
The neighbouring development at Palmview has also led to home sales in Sippy Downs. “People look at Harmony but then see older properties on bigger blocks in Sippy Downs,” he says.
Mr Ryan says homes are moving quickly in the suburb: “Pretty much all of the properties we list are under contract within three to four weeks.”
The affordability factor has become more pronounced. About 17 $1m-plus homes were sold in the suburb last year, compared to about “six or seven” this year.
Realestate.com.au reports that the median house price at Sippy Downs is $775,000: down three per cent in the past 12 months, but up from about $500,000 in late 2018. The price is significantly lower than that of Buderim ($1.1m in the past 12 months) and Mountain Creek ($930,000).
