Resort look being replicated to attract boomer buyers
LOS ANGELES: A developer is transposing an alpine resort vibe to a regional town to attract a Boomer market.
Taking inspiration from New Zealand’s alpine adventure gateway, Queenstown, the wealthy Deague family are developing Bright Valley near Victoria’s Falls Creek and Mount Hotham ski fields.
Stage one, comprising 62 house and land packages in the historic township of Bright, 3½ hours’ drive from Melbourne, has sold out at an average price of $1.2m. Stage two comprising 50 house and land packages was recently launched with prices from $895,000 for a house on an average size lot of 500sq m. Ten house and land packages were sold on the first weekend launch of stage two to locals, including buyers from nearby Albury and Wodonga.
The Deague Group’s managing director, Jonathan Deague, is handling the sales campaign, and is part of the fifth generation of the Melbourne-based family, which runs the Deague Group property development company.
“We spent time in Queenstown taking our builders, designers, architects … we went over twice to look at developments,” Mr Deague said.
The Deague team looked at the Mount Cardrona Station development on 400ha and Jack’s Point between The Remarkables and Lake Wakatipu near Queenstown that has five residential precincts and an 18-hole golf course.
“It’s a very similar style to alpine architecture with all the outdoor adventure,” Mr Deague said.
Mr Deague said stage one buyers at his Bright Valley comprised 60 per cent owner-occupiers and 40 per cent holiday investors. “I call them executive bike riders. They have a $20,000 bike and they want somewhere to stay in Bright which is not an Airbnb,” Mr Deague said.
“A lot of these buyers are purchasing to retire.”
The houses, which all have views to the surrounding mountains and strategically planned eyelines, are offered turnkey, and purchasers have the option of acquiring them fully furnished including white goods, right down to cutlery. This costs about $70,000-$80,000 extra.
“We wanted to control the way the houses look, so there are no boats, trampolines and caravans allowed in the front yard,” Mr Deague said.
He said the company opted to sell only house and land packages, saying it was so hard to build and from experience only 20-30 per cent of buyers would build at the outset.
“It would not look the way we want … we wanted to control the way the development looked … and we know it is so hard to build,” he said.
At the back of their alpine homes, some buyers are adding in saunas and cold plunge pools. Bright Valley will also feature common areas and walking paths, as well as barbecues and gated dog parks.
Mr Deague said stage one buyers would move in from the start of next year, adding that there would be at least two more stages released. Previously a farm overlooking the area’s significant mountain ranges, the large site was purchased from Malcolm Milne, who was widely regarded as one of Australia’s greatest Olympic skiers. He had farmed it for 30 years and was a Deague family friend.
For investors, the Bright Valley homes are expected to do well on the short-term rental market, commanding an average of $550-$650 a night, but that could go up to $1500 a night.
“Bright is the number one regional town for short-term demand,” Mr Deague said. “It has events on more than 40 weekends a year, including the prestigious Buffalo Stampede three-day running festival. This weekend there is not a bed free in the whole of Bright. Come Easter the whole place is 100 per cent full.”
The stage two homes – either single level or double storey – comprise three, four or five bedrooms. Many also have a multi-purpose room.
Two-bedroom homes start at $895,000, rising to $1.7m for a five-bedder. The majority of buyers pay about $1.3m-$1.5m for a three to four-bedroom home.
Many buyers will take the opportunity to install bunk beds in some of the bedrooms, with Mr Deague adding that the most popular homes for rentals had three to four bedrooms.
The initial stage two launch was aimed at locals, with the Deague Group subsequently opening a display suite at Kings Business Park for Melbourne buyers.
“This is the last piece of zoned land in Bright. There’s nothing else like it,” Mr Deague said. “It is tightly held. There’s not a lot of turnover in Bright, people buy here and they don’t sell. And come winter if buyers don’t want to make the slippery 50-minute drive up to Mount Hotham or Falls Creek themselves there are plenty of shuttle services available for skiers.
“The excitement for us is that we don’t have any other developments on the go in Melbourne. This is the most enjoyable development I have ever worked on.”