Brits Drawn to Australia’s Prestige Properties

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GOLDCOAST, Queensland – (Feb. 26, 2008) – British residents will discover first-hand at this month’s A Place in the Sun Live overseas property exhibition in Manchester why so many of their countrymen are lining up to buy prestige Australian coastal properties.Australian property developer Juniper Group will present three of its Queensland coastal developments at the three-day event, including two located in Port Douglas, one of Australia’s most celebrated international tourism destinations and a current hot spot for British buyers.Global real estate agency Coldwell Banker Australia chief executive Alex Caraco, whose firm will host an exhibitor’s stand on behalf of Juniper Group, said properties at Sea Temple Resort & Spa and Sea Temple Golf & Country Club offered an unrivalled level of luxury in a stunning location.“Both these prestige developments are located in booming Port Douglas, which is attracting a huge number of British buyers yearning for an escape from gloomy skies,” he said.“Property data reveals that 110 permanent UK residents own prestige real estate in the Port Douglas and Cairns region. These are people who have chosen to invest their money in a rising property market and plan their lives around this beautiful part of the world.“While some buyers are investors, many are Brits who have either chosen to move permanently to Port Douglas or live their winters there, with many people renting out their property for six months and living there for the other six months.”Mr. Caraco said Australian Bureau of Statistics figures revealed that British residents now accounted for 28 per cent of foreign property purchases in Queensland, a margin that has been increasing in recent years.Sea Temple Resort & Spa offers people the opportunity to purchase luxury apartments and villas, while Sea Temple Golf & Country Club features free-standing homesites on 600-700sq m blocks.Both properties are nestled between North Queensland’s rainforest-covered mountains and the Coral Sea, with easy access to world-renowned natural attractions such as the Great Barrier Reef and Daintree Rainforest and the cosmopolitan dining, shopping and entertainment facilities of Port Douglas.Savvy investors at the Manchester exhibition will also be attracted to Juniper Group’s Soul Surfers Paradise, a 77-storey residential and retail tower under construction on beachfront at the Gold Coast.The undisputed crown in the Juniper Group’s property portfolio, the $850 million Soul development is now under construction in the heart of Surfers Paradise and will be home to almost 300 luxury apartments overlooking one of Australia’s best-known beaches in a location that can never be built out.“With world financial markets shaky, a number of smart Australians have taken their money out of the stock market and put it into real estate just like after the 1987 Wall St crash,” Mr. Caraco said.“People are looking for a safe haven for their money and Australia’s luxury property market is rising accordingly, with Soul one of the true success stories.”Prospective buyers have even more incentive to consider Soul at the moment, with Juniper Group offering the chance to buy an apartment now and not settle until late 2010.“With global share markets struggling at the moment, this offer means that buyers can secure their future with a 10 per cent deposit and not have to pay anything further for three years,” Mr. Caraco said.“That allows them the luxury of having three years without having to pay any more money while knowing that their own iconic piece of beachfront property has been secured at today’s prices.”Mr. Caraco said Soul Surfers Paradise was achieving stunning sales results, with more than 180 apartment sales totaling AUS$425 million already sealed despite final completion of the tower still more than three years away.“Soul already holds the Australian record price for an apartment at AUS$16.85 million and continues to set new records for the property industry,” he said.For more on Soul Surfers Paradise or Sea Temple, visit www.juniper.com.au.A Place in the Sun Live, which will feature 200 exhibitors promoting thousands of properties in 40 countries, will be held at Manchester Central from Friday, February 29 to Sunday, March 2. Visit Juniper Group at stand A91 or for more information, visit www.aplaceinthesunlive.com.