The fallout from the global financial crisis (GFC) might make now the best time for homebuyers and investors to get a foothold in Australia’s coastal property markets, RP Data head of research Tim Lawless says.

Coastal lifestyle-driven markets have struggled more than most over the past 12 months, but there are signs the tide is turning.

“Don’t ignore our sea change markets while the flurry to buy property surrounds city markets,” Lawless suggests. Lawless says that while competition in coastal lifestyle markets remains relatively subdued, many of them “have seen the worst of times”.

Signs of a strengthening market in coastal areas include:

• the number of home sales has increased 37 per cent since bottoming 12 months ago;
• the time it takes to sell a home is becoming shorter across the key coastal markets and vendors are discounting their properties less;
• the total amount of stock available for sale is gradually reducing, as supply is absorbed by growing buyer activity.

The turnaround in market conditions is coming off a low base, so most coastal lifestyle markets still provide opportunistic buying conditions, Lawless adds.

“These popular coastal markets are still much more affordable than they once were and market conditions are still in favour of the buyer.

“For these reasons now may be a good time to be positioning in the market for future growth.”