Salamander Bay: Coveted waterfront homes set sales records and bring in combined $13.5 million

Three recent high-end sales along a coveted strip in Salamander Bay have fetched a combined total of $13.5 million, with one setting a suburb record.

In May, a renovated five-bedroom, three-bathroom home on the water at 83 Foreshore Drive sold for a record-breaking price with Rebecca and Meg Dean at First National Port Stephens.

Ms Dean said she was unable to comment on the sale price, however, CoreLogic records show the property sold for $5.4 million.

The result topped the previous record of $4.875 million set in 2022 following the sale of a luxury five-bedroom house at 105 Foreshore Drive.

First National Port Stephens also oversaw the sale of a six-bedroom house next door at 85 Foreshore Drive which pulled in $3.9 million in May.

“Overall, our biggest market in Salamander Bay at the moment is locals but I would say 75 per cent of our waterfront buyers are Sydney-based,” Ms Dean said.

“Our local market is very strong at the moment and not many people are buying holiday homes, they are moving in or keeping it as a holiday rental before they move in to retire.”

A luxury home with a pool at 49 Foreshore Drive is the latest property to fetch a multi-million-dollar price on the sought-after street.

Listed with Ben George, of Aspect Port Stephens, the property sold above reserve at auction for $4.2 million.

“For what it was, it was an excellent result because it was essentially a two-bedroom property with a study, so it wasn’t an overly huge home but had been built to a high standard,” Mr George said.

“It was a lot smaller than other properties along that stretch but as far as the quality, it was up there.”

The house was built six years ago.

The auction drew five registered bidders, including four Sydney buyers, however, the eventual winning bidder was from Port Stephens.

“It was a local buyer,” he said.

“The under-bidder was from Sydney looking to buy it as a holiday home, which is a common theme in the area.”

Mr George estimates around 50 to 60 per cent of his buyers in Port Stephens are from Sydney.

Analysis of Australia’s regional coastal towns by CoreLogic released earlier this year revealed three suburbs of Port Stephens experienced the biggest price gains across the state from March 2020, up more than 60 per cent.

Mr George said rising interest rates cooled the market in Port Stephens, however, demand in the region had increased again with the pause on cash rate hikes.

“Back in 2013 to around 2016, prices in the area were pretty stable and there was a little bit of growth before it came back down, but then Covid happened,” he said.

“It felt like things almost doubled overnight.

“In a year or two, prices went from the median sale sitting at around $500,000 in Salamander Bay to sitting at just over a million.

“The market has crawled back.”

The median house sale price in Salamander Bay is $1,001,077, according to CoreLogic.

This story was originally published at view.com.au.