Newsletter Century 21 The Future of Port Douglas

The people of Port Douglas are grateful for the lucky escape from the destructive Cyclone, “Larry” on Monday March the 20th, 2006.

 Some areas of the Douglas Shire experienced high wind gusts and a loss of electricity. Fortunately there was no devastation as there was in the communities just 70kms south of Port Douglas.  Residents of the Douglas Shire realise it could just as easily have been us, and we are urging all to help the victims, our Southern neighbours, who bore the impact of the cyclone. Donations - be they cash, clothing, or tinned food can be made through the Port Douglas Neighbourhood Centre by calling 07 4099 5518. However, the most recent report requests money donations as food and clothing donations have been substantial.

There is no denying that Cyclone Larry was terrifying, but we should be celebrating the fact that there were no lives lost. It’s a reality that Far North Queensland is susceptible to cyclones, but this does not diminish the fact that the majority of people who live here would not live anywhere else. Nor does it reduce the gravitational trend of the amount of Australians wanting to re-locate, live and invest in Far North Queensland.

Port Douglas, Queensland is typical of coastal areas experiencing population and tourism growth, making it an obvious choice of venue for the first national conference presented by the National Sea Change Taskforce. Sea Change 2006 is a forum of decision makers (including Premier Peter Beattie) that will be held on April the 4th and 5th in Port Douglas. The purpose of the Sea Change taskforce is to discuss measures for planning, funding and managing growth in coastal areas.

More than five million people live in Australian coastal areas outside the capital cities. A further one million people are expected to shift to the coast within the next 15 years.

This rate of growth is not sustainable, and a new approach is needed to prevent the long-term degradation of the coastal environment. 

Port Douglas is the only place on Earth where two World Heritage listed sites meet – the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Wet Tropics.

Clearly Port Douglas is an established high quality lifestyle destination valued for its tropical climate, scenic landscape, recreational pursuits and new business opportunities.

With population growth predicted to continue in the foreseeable future it is vital that the pressures put on small coastal communities such as Port Douglas are addressed.

Factors contributing to the big shift toward coastal destinations include:

·        The imminent retirement of the “Baby Boomer” generation, which will produce a sizeable new market for high amenity retirement destinations.

(Amenity migrants are those who relocate to a new area for lifestyle consideration rather than economic factors)

·        The global shift away from manufacturing based economies towards information, service and consumption based industries which are less dependent on a metropolitan location and

·        The growing flexibility of work practices associated with new telecommunications technology, which enables some workers to relocate to small coastal centers.

Australians are amongst the highest rate of home owners in the western world.  The obsession with owning our own home is ingrained in our grassroots Australian values.  

A reflection of this was the financial assistance from the government of the First Home Owners Grant.

Now further to this a new revolution in home loans is about to be launched on the Australian market and will appeal not only to the 15% of first home buyers,  but also to the ambitious, aspirational market which wants to buy a home 25% more expensive than they otherwise could afford.

Launching in July through the major lending institutions is a product generically known as a “shared appreciation” loan. This new product (loan) allows you to borrow up to 20 per cent of the value of a property interest free – in exchange for giving up 40 per cent of any capital gain made.

When major institutions are this keen and confident about the property market, what is there but for the majority of population to all breathe a sigh of relief. After all, residential real estate has delivered high returns with low risk over the past 30 years and Australians who love their homes expect to see that trend continue over the next 30 years.

The  new loan provider has been quoted as being “of the opinion that there is a structural under supply of housing on the east coast of Australia and we expect to see the property market rebound robustly with the next 12 to 24 months on the back of strong demand combined with growing supply deficiencies.”

Now if there ever was a comment to make us feel all warm and fuzzy about being home owners and property investors,that would be it.

The period from 2006 to 2030 is predicted to be a time of great opportunity for the property market because it is expected the 55 plus age group will increase by four million people during this time – a large percentage of whom will be looking to change their real estate needs.

This process of de-urbanisation will further increase the demand for residential property in places like Port Douglas, and we at Century 21 Port Douglas look foward to being an important part of this process.