The top end of the Palm Beach holiday rental market has been the busiest, with the more affordable segment less in demand. Photo: Peter Braig The low Aussie dollar is making the high-end rental market at Palm Beach and Whale Beach more competitive than it’s been in recent years as more locals look to holiday at home.
Leading the demand for a glamorous holiday home are big spenders from Sydney, overseas and returning expats, with three top properties leased out for $40,000 a week over the break.
“In previous years the main demand has been for those homes in the $5000 to $15,000 range, but this year has seen a complete turnaround in that,” said Peter Robinson, of LJ Hooker Palm Beach. “It’s the high-end stock that was taken up first and what’s left now is that more affordable housing.”
$40,000 a week: 8 Iluka Road, Palm Beach
The jump in holiday rental demand has exceeded an increase of at least 10 per cent in the number of homes on offer for rent, according to LJ Hooker’s Jill Gosselin, who runs the Palm Beach Holiday Rentals business.
“When the Aussie dollar is down it makes it more expensive for locals to travel,” said Gosselin. But a lower dollar also makes Australia a more attractive holiday option for overseas and expat holiday makers, she added.
The Aussie dollar was trading at US74¢ as of Thursday.
Among those top-end $40,000 holiday rentals is the Whale Beach property of liquor supplier Kent Walker and his wife Desley, which they purchased from the wealthy Moran family in August for $12 million.
The other two top rentals are both in Palm Beach, one on the beachfront at Iluka Road and the other on the hilltop at Pacific Road.
“This week marked the start of our busiest time of year for the rental market, which kicked off with the arrival of a family from England who have leased one of our most expensive properties for two weeks,” Gosselin said.
One of the few high-end rentals left is the beachfront weekender of Kellie-Jane Bailey, wife of former Photon Group senior executive Stewart Bailey, which she bought in an off-market deal for $12.3 million late last year from former ANZ banker Steve Bellotti.
Gosselin said the beachfront residence is on offer to latecomers for $35,000 a week.