New officer another positive sign for Collie real estate market

The opening of a new LJ Hooker office in Collie is another positive sign for the town’s real estate market.

LJ Hooker Bunbury principal Brent Spooner grew up in the town and said opening the office was an exciting prospect.

“Mitch (Davidson) joined us last year in Collie and business is going pretty good down there so we made the move to set up an office,” he said.

“There has always been a market in Collie even when it does pull back a bit because there are always properties that do sell.

“I believe having a presence in the town will allow us to grab a bigger share of that market and we now have a good team behind us now that will make it viable.”

Summit Realty South West senior sales executive Charles Pinto has more than two decades of selling experience in Collie.

He said an increasing number of buyers from out of town had shown an interest in properties.

“They get a nice home at a reasonable price while still being able to put some finances back in the bank account,” he said.

“Things are quite buoyant in town and I’ve been very busy there for the past six months and more.

“That trend looks like it will keep going because I see many projects happening in Collie in the very near future. Our property manager running rentals in town is in my ear all the time telling me she is short of rentals — the vacancy rate is just one per cent and there is a high demand.”

Mr Spooner said renovations were taking place at the Jones Arcade office and it would be a couple of months before it opened.

“There has been a fair few sales come through in the past few months,” he said.

“I think there is certainly light at the end of the tunnel in Collie.

“Everything is priced fairly reasonably there and sellers are listening to agents to move the properties on.”