“It was unthinkable back then that houses in Long Jetty would be nudging $2MM some 42 years later.” He said recently.
“In those days you could buy a beachfront at Blue Bay for $80,000.”
Earlier this year, Mr McLachlan sold a home in Werrina Pde Blue Bay which was across the street from the beach for $2.70m.
“Real estate has been consistently doubling its value every decade since Federation in 1901 and by the looks of current market trends, it will continue to do so.”
Mr McLachlan made his prediction after his Long Jetty based agency McLachlan Partners set a new benchmark price for Long Jetty-Shelley Beach.
A two-story property in Elseimer St sold for $1.95M, beating the ‘old’ suburb record by $270,000. It was set a week earlier in Phillip St, 10 blocks north.
Long Jetty, The Entrance, Toowoon Bay, Shelley Beach and Blue Bay have an abundance of older family homes and traditional weekenders which are ideal for renovation. Many are within walking distance of the ocean and local restaurants and coffee shops.
Third generation partners
The McLachlan family business originated as a holiday letting and estate agency in Gordon Rd Long Jetty back in 1924.
“Brothers Clyde and Douglas McLachlan proudly boasted inspections by motorized vehicles and would meet buyers on the ferry from Wyong at Long Jetty,” Mr McLachlan said.
Flash forward 100 years and Bruce McLachlan is the third-generation principal of McLachlan Partners.
He won the REINSW award for Community Service and the Regional Agency of the Year in 2015 and in 2018, a poll of residents voted him the Most Influential Person on the Coast
Yes, times have changed but Long Jetty has had its problems down through the years as the tourists slowly found newer, more exciting places to go.
There was a plan to turn it into a medium to high density zoning under the old Wyong Shire and it took a concerted effort by locals to get the offending Masterplan called ‘The Entrance Peninsula Planning Strategy 2009’ tossed out.
Council planned high rise in Long Jetty’s shopping centre as well as The Entrance, Toowoon Bay and The Entrance North which would was like waving a red rag to a bull when locals got wind of the plan.
Mr McLachlan and other prominent locals saw Long jetty as a vibrant community which was full of stable businesses and popular locals and Coast residents as a place to visit.
“Tourists went to The Entrance; locals live in Long Jetty area.”
In June 2012, council representatives and local businesses including Mr McLachlan met at a local café where council acknowledged it was time to inject some funding into the area. It was the beginning of Long jetty developing into “the new Newtown”.
As late as 2015 affordable bargains were available across The Entrance peninsula. A home in Alfred St, Long Jetty, at that time sold for $539,000, attracting 22 bidders.
It could fetch twice that amount today.
The Covid lockdowns in Sydney have benefited Coast property prices as workers look to move out of the city and work from home.
“It is great to work in an industry that puts smiles on people’s faces,” he said.
An example was a recent sale at Toowoon Bay where a home owned by a family for 65 years was sold to a young family, bringing broad grins all round.
When he is not studying the real estate market, Mr McLachlan enjoys a surf at his local break and in summer he is involved in a multitude of charity and community organisations including the local surf clubs.
