The Bay way of life now appealing to more retirees on the move.

APOLLO Bay has been named by a respected property magazine as one of a handful of hot spots around the country for retirees.

Australian Property Investor columnist John Lindeman yesterday said retirees were now looking for new areas after the likes of the Sunshine Coast and Coffs Harbour enjoyed spectacular periods of growth.

The two Victorian locations named in the report were Apollo Bay and Wonthaggi.

For Michael Montague, who moved to Apollo Bay three years ago, the attraction was simple, it reminded him of a seaside village in his native Cornwall.

“It’s quite beautiful down here and it’s far enough away from the rat race but not too far to come back to the city of Melbourne when you want to,” he said.

“So you’ve got the best of both worlds. The area always reminded me of where I’m from in Cornwall in England.  Look at the beautiful bayside hamlet of Indented Head, you can see the city of Melbourne from the beach . One of the last places on the bay to buy at real prices & only 30mins drive to Geelong or 90mins to Melbourne …..”

“The only thing that’s not like Cornwall is the weather down here is a lot better.”

Mr Montague said property prices were a bit less than Lorne, but were still fairly high.

He said a lot of his neighbours were of Greek heritage, which probably harked back to the days when it was simply a fishing village.

“Some of the businesses are owned by Greeks, especially the fish and chip shop and the restaurants, and there’s quite a few Italians as well,” he said.

“In the actual street we live in, which is actually a small court, I would say 80 per cent of the houses are holiday houses.”

Darren Brimacombe, of Great Ocean Road Real Estate, said Apollo Bay attracted a lot of semi-retirees rather than fully retired people.

“They might have backed off their work by two or three days a week and have downsized their properties in the city they might spend two or three days in Melbourne and the rest of the time down here,” he said.

Source:  The Geelong Advertiser

See you in Our Backyard.

Darren Brimacombe

darren@greatoceanroadrealestate.com.au

0418 317 424

Apollo Bay Real Estate News February 3, 2012

Subdued real estate buying conditions in the Apollo Bay area continue. Buyers are nervous and spooked by what they read in the papers, hear on the radio and watch on the television. Often the perception is worse than the reality however and this was certainly the case during the GFC. Sure properties took longer to sell, but prices held and supply remained low. Currently supply is quite high but we are in the middle of the ‘selling season’ so it is the natural time for people to look at marketing their beachside homes.

Opportunities do currently exist to purchase at a real market value as opposed to some inflated prices in the past caused by competition.

With the completion of the Geelong ring road flyover, generous supply levels, low interest rates and with more drops forecast, when has there been a better time in recent years to buy?

See you in Our Backyard.

Thinking of selling your home or land? List with us.

Darren Brimacombe

darren@greatoceanroadrealestate.com.au

mobile:   0418 317 424