Get to know Simon Caulfield of Place Kangaroo Point
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Apr 9, 2020
Get to know Simon Caulfield of Place Kangaroo Point
"My mantra is walk the walk and talk the talk...you can't get any more authentic than a real estate agent who buys the same real estate their clients do."
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Place Kangaroo Point
Place Kangaroo Point Director & Lead Agent Simon Caulfield is passionate about golf, which he says has a lot of similarities to real estate. In both, you need to have a complete game and a lot of patience and belief.
Simon is a member at The Grand Golf Club, one of Queensland's iconic courses with a Private Membership of only 555 members, and a collector of watches from Patek Phillippe to Audemars Piguet and Hublot's.
When he's not working, Simon and his wife love to travel, always finding themselves inspecting real estate around the globe, particularly in his favourite city of New York.
Source: Simon Caulfield
Having represented over $500,000,000 in property sales in the past 10 years, Simon and his team specialise in development sales, successfully selling out 6 luxury developments over the past 4 years; most notably, Walan 2 Scott Street, Kangaroo Point for $44,000,000 in 4 months. Simon holds 11 suburb records with 82 transactions between $1,000,000 and $5,000,000 in the past 18 months.
WILLIAMS MEDIA spoke to Simon about the constantly evolving Brisbane marketplace and his outlook for 2020.
What are your predictions for the Brisbane luxury market with the current restrictions in 2020 and beyond?
The coronavirus has given everyone a real shakeup. Let’s face it, the property market has been quite good, and the stock market has been overperforming, for the past 3 years. Our view, regardless of conditions, is that good quality real estate and well-priced properties will always sell.
Our focus is the high end, luxury property market in the inner city suburbs of Brisbane. With falling stock levels, the prediction is that prices should neutralise at worst, with a rebound as we move towards the end of the year. Private inspections are a large part of our existing business, so we continue to operate with a high level of normality.
What advice do you give to vendors for the best outcome?
Be clear on your intentions for selling from day one. Have a direct conversation with your agent and plan appropriately. The strategy to achieve a great result adjusts according to the market conditions. When choosing your agent, experience matters more than ever in these times but combine this with real determination and you will truly maximise the outcome. High quality marketing with a combination of print and digital will always maximise your exposure.
What advice do you give to your buyers?
Start contacting active agents in your area of choice as many clients will be looking to take advantage of selling "off market" in the current climate. Not every property is advertised online! If you are subject to finance, have the pre-approval conversation early and use a broker rather than the bank directly. You need to understand all options in front of you.
What are vendors saying?
They are asking ‘What does COVID-19 mean for the property market? If supply levels drop, what will this do with the values of properties?’
What are buyers saying?
Is this the bottom of the market? Will stock levels increase soon? Should I wait or risk missing the right opportunity today?
Many buyers are waiting for the right time, but no one ever knows the bottom of the market. The risk is they all wait and end up creating a highly competitive market on the rebound.
Source: Place Kangaroo Point
In general, are the buyers changing in your area?
The main consideration here falls within two types of buyers. Those who have sold (or don't need to) and those who haven't and still residing in their existing home. Many of our clients who have sold have a genuine need to repurchase, but may reassess the value of the new home they purchase. Many see the stock market as an opportunity to invest and benefit from the next rise whereas property is their safety net and their home, it comes with an emotional element. Therefore, you have a divided market.
Baby boomers are cautious but cashed up and will purchase if the property is unique and rarely seen.
Gen X, those with disposable income, sense an opportunity to upgrade. The transition from one price point to the next with low interest rates is a no-brainer to lock in cheap debt.
FHOB, dependant on their circumstances, many see this market as a chance to swap their rental hat to become First Home owners. Again, this is good debt and it is cheap with historically low interest rates.
The Expats have good reason to reinvest back in Brisbane. Many will purchase with the idea of moving into this dwelling in the foreseeable future. Time pressures aren't a consideration, but they are typically cash and able to move quickly.
Where do you see demand coming from?
At the luxury end of the market, our local purchasers still account for a large percentage of $3M to $10M sales. Brisbane is a great city, evolving with so many exciting infrastructure projects, which encourages those who live here to upsize or downsize in a fair market. Our last 5 transactions, all of which occurred in Kangaroo Point, range from $1,150,000 to $7,500,000. All of our purchasers originated within 3-5km of the suburb.
Where are your buyers from – expats, Asia, or local?
90% are local with the remainder from overseas and interstate.
Are they downsizing/upsizing?
It’s a 50/50 trade-off. In our building at Walan, 2 Scott Street, Kangaroo Point, over 60% of the building represents families with parents under 50 and young children. With an average sale price in the mid to high $4M's this is evidence of baby boomers downsizing or splitting their investment between a base in Brisbane and a weekender on the coast.
What is one thing you have learned over your years as a luxury agent?
If you want to represent quality real estate, you need to embody everything about it. Selling real estate in the luxury end requires a real understanding of the residences you represent. Place Estate Agents is synonymous with luxury property and our business at Place Kangaroo Point is at the epicentre.
Source: Place Kangaroo Point
We have successfully represented over $500,000,000 in real estate transactions in the past decade. Our experience in selling at the high end is underpinned by our success in over 7 luxury off the plan development sell-outs starting with SILT 50 Holman Street, Kangaroo Point in 2013 through to Walan 2 Scott Street, Kangaroo Point and 59 Byron Street, Bulimba in 2018 & 2019.
For many years, we have continued to reside and own within the luxury developments we have sold for our clients. My mantra is walk the walk and talk the talk...you can't get any more authentic than a real estate agent who buys the same real estate their clients do.
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