Body Corporate Insurance Makes Local Headlines

 

The following article concerning the ongoing body corporate insurance issue in the Far North appeared on the front page of the Cairns Post yesterday. As discussion around this issue grows local leaders are understandably not finding it hard to gain the support of the local community. Almost 20% of the total dwellings in the Cairns greater region alone consist of units within body corporate and strata-title arrangements and all owners of these properties will be effected by the recent insurance premium increases.

Article Text: BODY corporate and strata title owners are demanding a Federal Government-backed reinsurance scheme if an inquiry into the insurance industry does not result in a significant fall in premiums.

The call comes as the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs agreed to consider residential strata insurance as part of its inquiry into the insurance industry.

The agreement was reached after meetings involving property owners in Cairns, Townsville and Airlie Beach were told premiums had soared by up to 400 per cent.

Cairns-based Senator Jan McLucas and the Opposition’s federal member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch joined forces and lobbied in Canberra for the issue to be included in the inquiry.

Strata Community Australia CEO Mark Lever said the reinsurance proposal was quickly gathering momentum.

"The report of the Natural Disaster Insurance Review released last week pointed to a solution in the form of a specialised government-backed reinsurance facility for high risk properties in both flood and cyclone zones and the Government has already indicated it will consult further on this,’’ he said.

"This inquiry is an opportunity to fast-track that consultation and put a solution in place as quickly as possible."

Mr Lever said the community forums last week attracted 400 "angry, frustrated, confused and, in many cases, desperate apartment and townhouse owners and investors" who spoke of premiums rising from 200 to 400 per cent.

The issue affects about 70,000 body corporate property owners north of Rockhampton.

"The meetings heard from pensioners worried they might be forced from their homes, other retirees who could not sell up because of a collapse in the apartment market and investors facing negative returns before interest," Mr Lever said.

"Real estate agents said they could no longer recommend apartments and townhouses as investments and insurers could offer no sign of relief on the horizon.

"With development at a standstill and body corporates slashing maintenance and other spending to cushion the increases, the knock-on effects to the north Queensland economy are continuing to spread."

Swangem on McLeod body corporate chairman Ian Jamieson said he was hoping government pressure and/or intervention would reduce premiums.

"It’s becoming unsustainable. Our insurance has gone from $4000 to $19,000," he said.

Mr Jamieson said they were being discriminated against because of where they lived.

"The insurance companies don’t even come out and inspect the properties to see that ours, which is less than 10 years old, has been built to cyclone standards and even has cyclone shutters," he said.

Mr Jamieson said in Darwin there was a government-owned insurance office and there should be one in Queensland.

Peter Musso - Ray White Cairns Beaches - Real estate agent selling property in Trinity Beach, Kewarra Beach, Clifton Beach, Palm Cove, Trinity Park, Smithfield, Yorkeys Knob, Holloways Beach, Machans Beach

Analysis of the Top End in the Cairns Marketplace

In their national monthly review Herron Todd White have analysed the premium end of the market in all metropolitan and regional areas. Their Cairns branch have offered the following summary of just how this sector appears to be operating in the current real estate climate:-

The Cairns upper property market is thinly traded but we would define it as anything above $1 million. This sector would contain:

• Houses with beach or marina frontage on the Northern Beaches;
• some high quality acreage properties on the Northern Beaches;
• elevated houses with panoramic views in suburbs such as Edge Hill, Whitfield, Brinsmead or upper Mooroobool;
• penthouse apartments in the CBD, beachfront and/or waterfront unit developments.

The Cairns upper property market, like the market in general, remains slow. So far this year, there have been 11 property sales at $1 million or more, compared with 30 such sales in 2010 and 54 in the 2007 heyday in the market. The 11 properties sold so far this year have been a variety: one was on the beachfront, three were panoramic, two were on acreage, three had marina frontage, and two were CBD apartments. Most have sold at hefty discounts on their asking prices, and often after extended selling periods. Sample sales from 2011 include:

• A CBD penthouse apartment, originally listed at $1.3 million in November 2010, sold for $1.075 million in April 2011;
• an acreage property at Kewarra Beach, originally listed at $1.395 million in May 2011, sold for $1.05 million in July 2011;
• a panoramic property at Brinsmead, originally listed at $1.45 million in April 2010, sold for $1.018 million in April 2011.

Two of the most highly prized properties in Cairns are also currently on the market. One is a beachfront property at Kewarra Beach, purchased for $5.5 million in 2006 and being sold in receivership, and the other a trophy property owned by a local entrepreneur in financial difficulty high above Earlville. Both these properties are seriously on the market after failing to sell at recent auction.

Iconic Kewarra Street beachfront mansion currently for sale

So how do you sell a million dollar plus property right now in Cairns? Easily, if you want to sell it for $700,000! Otherwise to sell a $1 million plus property in the current Cairns market environment it needs to be PERFECT in every way. It needs to be perfect in terms of attributes and location and absolutely immaculate in presentation.

Herron Todd White is Australia's largest Independent Property Advisory group with 58 offices throughout Australia. Their Cairns branch has a wealth of experience in providing valuation services across the commercial, industrial, rural and residential property sectors.

View Herron Todd White's national monthly market review HERE

Peter Musso - Ray White Cairns Beaches - Real estate agent selling property in Trinity Beach, Kewarra Beach, Clifton Beach, Palm Cove, Trinity Park, Smithfield, Yorkeys Knob, Holloways Beach, Machans Beach

Far North Insurance Concerns

A hot topic in the north at the moment; body corporate and strata title insurance premiums increasing as a number of insurance providers pull out of the market all together. A supposed rise in the number of natural disasters throughout the region is cited as the reason why compulsory insurance cover for complexes has risen on average by around 400 percent.

The following two articles concerning this topic have recently appeared in the Cairns Post and highlight a real local community concern and call to action by local MP’s.

Insurance Sting Takes Toll - 31st October 2011

THE insurance problems facing the Far North’s body corporate and strata title sector were a bigger crisis than that of southeast Queensland flood victims, an industry leader warns.

Cairns Central Plaza Apartment Hotel

Strata Community Australia chief executive officer Mark Lever said the soaring insurance premiums that body corporates and strata titles were being charged now required government intervention.

He is calling on the Federal Government to provide reinsurance guarantees for the segment in specific areas, including those in cyclone category 3 and higher areas and flood zones.

Mr Lever said he hoped to have some answers from the National Disaster Insurance Review to give to a forum in Cairns in two weeks.

“It’s a massive issue from our members’ point of view. It is causing a dramatic impact on the investment and lifestyle up there (in Far North Queensland),” he said.

Mr Lever said typically there had been 400 per cent increases as well as 200 to 300 per cent on the compulsory insurance cover.

Insurance companies were struggling to obtain reinsurance coverage as no one was prepared to take the risk, he said.

Mr Lever said it was having an impact on the property and development sectors with people reluctant to buy or construct units and apartments in the region.

Federal member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch said his office had been swamped with phone calls from concerned body corporates and property owners.

“It’s quite profound. It’s only going to get worse next year when it comes around again,” he said.

“I have examples over the past four years of insurances increasing from $11,000 to $12,000 to $23,000 and the most recent quote of $ 92,500.”

Mr Entsch said he knew of retirees who could not afford to pay their body corporate fees because of the increase in insurance premiums.

“Many owners are now being forced to borrow money to pay for this year’s body corporate fees,” he said.

Springfield body corporate chairman Don Cunningham said the insurance on their 12 units at Manoora, went from $2350 to $ 3532 last year to $15,500 this year.

View article here

Ease our insurance pain: plea from Far Northern apartment owners and investors - 9th November 2011



Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch

THOUSANDS of Far Northern apartment owners and investors hit by massive hikes in body corporate insurance will have their concerns heard by the consumer rights umpire.

Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch’s push for an inquiry into body corporate insurance has gathered momentum, with the matter now in the hands of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

"Many people are absolutely distraught at the massive hikes in their body corporate insurance premiums and some of them will be out on the street if we don’t get this mess sorted out," Mr Entsch said.

In one example, a customer’s insurance premium rose from $11,000 in 2008 to $92,500 this year.

"This is having a profound impact on strata title owners in the Far North, but I’m also hearing horror stories as far south as Mackay," he said.

Mr Entsch wants strata property owners in the Far North to keep putting pressure on body corporate insurers before the next round of premiums is issued next year.

His campaign has been backed by the local body corporate and strata title sectors, which say price gouging is impacting investment and lifestyles in the region.

Strata Community Australia chief Mark Lever said there were 70,000 units between Mackay and Port Douglas, and body corporate insurance affected a cross-section of the community.

"This is owners, investors, retirees, holiday homes – a lot of people are impacted by these rises," Mr Lever said. He will host a forum for strata property owners in Cairns on Monday.

Mr Entsch blamed the huge price hikes on the insurance giant Zurich forcing other companies out of the market by undercutting costs and then raising premiums by as much as 800 per cent.

But Zurich insists its premiums reflect the growing cost of doing business in the Far North after natural disasters such as cyclones Larry and Yasi in recent years.

Mr Entsch has urged affected property owners to attend the Natural Disaster Insurance Review at the Holiday Inn on November 14.

View article here

Peter Musso - Ray White Cairns Beaches - Real estate agent selling property in Trinity Beach, Kewarra Beach, Clifton Beach, Palm Cove, Trinity Park, Smithfield, Yorkeys Knob, Holloways Beach, Machans Beach

The Best Performing Suburbs in Cairns

Article printed in The Cairns Weekend Post Saturday 15th October 2011

The data's in on our best performing areas: Cairns real estate agents see a glimmer of hope that the property market slump could be turning a corner. 

Latest RP Data figures offer pockets of optimism among the backdrop of doom and gloom. The numbers don’t lie.

Sales of houses in Mooroobool have seen a 21 per cent increase in median price for the quarter to July 2011. Another standout suburb, Trinity Beach, has seen the median price for a house settle at $375,000 for the same time period. And fashionable Edge Hill continues to perform well with a positive 3.6 per cent quarterly change, taking its median price to $445,000.

Ray White Cairns Beaches principal Paul Stirling, who like many Cairns agents, supplies his sales figures to RP Data – the real estate industry watermark – said an increase in strong sale figures, compared with this time last year, provided a confident platform for the industry.

"Our volume of sales per month has increased compared to the first six months of the year," Mr Stirling told The Weekend Post.

"We were averaging 13 sales a month and now we’re averaging 16 sales a month and 50 per cent of our sales market has been shared at Trinity Beach. Our core suburbs at the moment are, obviously Trinity Beach, Kewarra and Clifton beaches, Palm Cove, Trinity Park and Smithfield.

"Rents are rising. Just this week we had a five-bedroom house at Kewarra Beach, which vacated and was renting for $440 a week, and we’ve since got new tenants in and they’re paying $460 a week. So we’re seeing a $20 rise in some rental properties.

"With rents rising, this is stabilising the market and it’s having a positive effect on house values.

"We’re getting a large number of inquiries from the medical profession coming through as the Cairns Base Hospital starts to fill more and more positions in line with the expansion. We’re also getting a lot of inquiries from the LNG project in PNG and a lot of these people are purchasing.

"I strongly believe we’ll definitely be over the worst, if we haven’t already passed it now, by this time next year. I can see a strong future ahead of us in the next 12 months, it’s certainly going to be a lot better."

Mr Stirling said he wasn’t surprised to discover the "much sought after" Trinity Beach was one of the top performing suburbs with 89 houses sold in 12 months to July 2011.

"Trinity Beach also includes the Bluewater precinct, which is offering great house and land packages, but the general Trinity Beach area is a popular well-serviced area, which makes it extremely appealing to the family market," he said.

Cairns Property Office principal Greg Moule said "attractive prices" were drawing buyers to city fringe suburbs such as Mooroobool and Brinsmead.

"There is no doubt that there’s attractive buying out there and we’ve seen houses in the Mooroobool and Manunda areas selling in the high 200s," he said.

"They may be old but because it’s so close to the city, and a lot of families are now down to one car and they want to save on as much as they can in tough times, these areas make very attractive buying."

RP Data is the No. 1 provider of property information and analytics in Australia. Cairns real estate agents are not obligated to contribute their sales figures to RP Data.

View article source here

Peter Musso - Ray White Cairns Beaches - Property agent selling real estate in Trinity Beach, Kewarra Beach, Clifton Beach, Palm Cove, Trinity Park, Smithfield, Yorkeys Knob, Holloways Beach, Machans Beach

Cairns Real Estate Market Month in Review

Summary by Herron Todd White valuers in Cairns - September 2011.

The Cairns residential property market is still at the bottom of the property cycle and it is still very much a buyer’s market. Property demand from investors and first home buyers remains at a low level and the market for low-end housing is slow. Demand for better quality houses and units in good locations remains solid, largely sustained on the basis of the trade up buyer segment.

There are two types of trade up buyer - existing locals trading up (or down or sideways) in response to changing circumstances and/or preferences, and people relocating to Cairns.

People relocating to Cairns tend to fall into two classes - the lifestyle and the economic migrants. With the slowdown in the Cairns economy, the economic migration component, consisting largely of young singles or young couples or young families moving to Cairns for employment reasons, has diminished. However Cairns still appears to be attracting its fair share of lifestyle migrants, albeit at a slower rate than before. This segment consists typically of the pre-retirement empty nester demographic, looking for a nice place to live but with opportunities for full or part time work if required. Indeed, cashed up lifestyle migrants who have sold up in Sydney or Melbourne to move to Cairns are like gold in the current market environment.

Lifestyle migrants are demanding a variety of accommodation styles, some buying up big as if expecting to be constantly descended upon by the friends and relatives they have left behind, while others are seeking well located unit accommodation with good amenities. The northern beaches are often a preferred destination.

Locals are also active in the trade up market, but the catch with this segment is selling their existing home. We often hear of sales that fall through because buyers are unable to sell their existing house in the presently slow market environment.

Peter Musso - Ray White Cairns Beaches -Real estate agent selling in Trinity Beach, Kewarra Beach, Clifton Beach, Palm Cove, Trinity Park, Smithfield, Yorkeys Knob, Holloways Beach, Machans Beach

Cairns Post: Tourism Industry Looks on Bright Side as Aus Dollar Falls Against Major Currencies

Article written in The Cairns Post - Wednesday 5th October 2011

The Far North's $2.2 billion a year tourism industry is buoyed by predictions the Australian dollar could fall to as low as US80c in coming weeks.

Industry leaders said it would take time for the benefits of a lower Aussie dollar to flow through but it would make the Far North more competitive and attractive to international tourists and stop the flow of Australians holidaying overseas.

Yesterday, the Aussie dollar hit a low of US94.58c before closing at US95.22c on growing fears of a global economic crisis.

It comes after the tourism industry had struggled for the past year as the Australian dollar hit highs of US110c.

The high Australian dollar made rival destinations such as Bali, Thailand and the Pacific islands more economically appealing to both overseas travellers and Australian holidaymakers.

Tourism Tropical North Queensland chief executive Rob Giason said it would make agricultural exports and tourism better value.

"It will be good for the Christmas holidays and many Australians will take time to holiday at home instead of heading overseas," he said.

Herron Todd White Cairns research director Rick Carr said in his CairnsWatch report the falling dollar would make the region more affordable.

"Cairns’s economic recovery lost some momentum over the past month and looks even shakier against a backdrop of increased global economic and share market turmoil," he said.

"However, the fall in the Australian dollar will be welcomed by local businesses, as will recent rises in passengers through the international airport and a fall in local unemployment."

The report said passenger numbers at the international terminal had increased by 5.9 per cent since December, 2010.

Economist Bill Cummings said the falling Australian dollar would be good news for the regional economy.

"It will be especially good news for an embattled tourist industry," he said.

"The fall is pretty much across all currencies, although the fall is less against the Euro."

Cairns Airport acting chief executive officer Greg Eisenmenger said the first two months of the financial year showed international passenger numbers "remain strong".

On the Cairns Esplanade yesterday travellers welcomed news they could soon be getting a better return on their homeland currency.

"A year ago, this holiday would have cost me about 25 per cent less," Swedish tourist Mika Andersson said.

View Cairns Post article here

Peter Musso - Ray White Cairns Beaches - Property agent selling real estate in Trinity Beach, Kewarra Beach, Clifton Beach, Palm Cove, Trinity Park, Smithfield, Yorkeys Knob, Holloways Beach, Machans Beach