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Fiji has been ranked alongside Bali and Malaysia as among the most popular destinations for Australians looking to buy international properties as investments and vacation getaways.
Australians are taking advantage of the strong Aussie dollar and abundance of budget flights to buy holiday homes overseas instead of the “shack on the coast”, the Australian reports.
"There's an increased number of people buying in New Zealand as well and that's mainly due to the fact they have some favourable exemptions there, such as no capital-gains tax," Property Planning Australia director Angelo Piazetta said.
"I think it just depends on who has the best marketing - in the past year people have been interested in Malaysia because there's new complexes or apartments going up there."
Bob Lowres and his wife, Libby, had been looking to buy a property in Noosa, but decided they could get more bang for their buck in Fiji when they decided to move from Brisbane eight years ago.
But when Lowres felt he wasn't quite ready to retire, the developer started looking for development opportunities and stumbled across Naisoso Island, where you can buy land and build a house from $500,000.
A $400 million master-planned resort, which will have 150 beachfront apartments, a four and five-star hotel, wellness centre and marina, has been so popular with Australians it is being dubbed "the new Niseko".
"When I was growing up the family holiday was very much the beachside home," he said.
"Now many baby boomers are reaching retirement, they want to enjoy it and I don't think this generation likes to rough it."
Real estate agent Carol West, from The Professionals Fiji, said the number of Australians buying there had doubled in the past two years.
Most Australian buyers were baby boomers and retirees from the Gold Coast, Sydney and Melbourne and a few from Adelaide and Noosa.
West said people were realising how far their dollar could go there and that there were four airlines linking the countries.
"You can buy a property on Denarau for around $400,000 and the competition between the airlines drives the price of flights down," she said.
"People are realising they can get on a plane and be here in a few hours and be in a different world."
Source: The Australian
