The colourful shopping centre, frequented by the rich and famous, will go to the market this week in an international expressions of interest campaign, leaving off any announcement of a price tag as yet.

The Main Beach precinct, which has 103 tenants including exclusive boutiques, top-notch brands and waterfront restaurants, was expected to attract widespread interest, said Colliers International’s Stewart Gilchrist.

It’s tipped that investors from booming Asian countries like India, China and South Korea will look closely at the property.

Mr Gilchrist said the recent sale of the Sheraton Mirage to Delhi-based Pearls, which picked up the resort for $62.5 million, was a ‘clear sign’ overseas investors were willing to spend in the area.

“We expect to attract huge interest both locally and internationally, mainly from Asia,” said Mr Gilchrist.

“There is significant capital from both local and global institutions now looking for placement, and with a lack of quality stock available nationally, we are confident Marina Mirage will create strong market activity, and be one of the first big retail investment market tests of 2010.”

Marina Mirage’s owner Fenix Real Estate (formerly Ticor Developments) splashed out $40 million on the property in 2005.

The group then spent more than that improving its facilities — the first makeover since failed tycoon Christopher Skase opened the centre in 1988.

Mr Skase built the precinct to cater for guests staying at the Sheraton Mirage.

Fenix bought the precinct from a trust linked to MFS Diversified (now GEO Property Group).

Mr Gilchrist said the fully leased net income represented about $8 million.

The 1.87km precinct, home to the regular Farmers Markets, has 720 carparks and its tenants include Hermes, Max & Co., Charlie Brown and Mimco.

Foodies enjoy the choices offered by Fellini, Glass Restaurant & Bar, Cafe Marina, Omeros Brothers and Max Brenner’s, among others.

Mr Gilchrist said the Pearls purchase, along with the expansion of the Marina Mirage boating precinct, made the area more attractive.

Pearls plans to take Sheraton Mirage back to its former glory, much like Fenix did with Marina Mirage.

“There is no other spot like it and a lot of money is being spent in the area,” said Mr Gilchrist.

Jones Lang LaSalle’s Simon Rooney and Jacob Swan are marketing the property with Mr Gilchrist.

Almost $27 million has been spent on Gold Coast luxury apartments in the past fortnight, including $2.75 million for a penthouse in the Ambience twin tower development at Burleigh Heads.

A Brisbane couple, who did not want to be identified, bought the 15th floor penthouse.

The penthouse has three bedrooms and a study, three car parking spaces and an 86sqm wrap-around balcony offering sweeping ocean views.

Buyers are realising that prices aren’t getting any lower and brand new developments are becoming more harder to come by.

People have been sitting on their cash, but the property clock is at the bottom. People thinking they will sit around trying to pick the bottom of the interest cycle — they’ve missed it — it was two months ago.

Most of the buyers were from capital cities.

They’re from Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne and they’re seeing the value in our top end.

They’re doing their research and they’re buying based on quality and location. They’re not buying based on price but they’re still getting good value.

Two other Ambience apartments have sold in the past two weeks including a three-bedroom, 13th floor apartment for $1.6 million and a three-bedroom, third floor apartment for $1.2 million.

The towers were finished in January and house 95 units, with only 15 left for sale.

Other Burleigh Heads apartment sales in the past fortnight include the penthouse and sub-penthouse at Ivory for $4.85 million and $3.8 million respectively.

The penthouse in the second Ambience tower, which is identical to the one just sold, is expected to sell quickly.

Four people, including some from Sydney, are ‘flashing their cheque books’ and have shown interest in the apartment in the past few days.

When it rains it pours.

Burleigh Heads appeals because it’s a touch quieter, families come back year after year on holidays and it’s an easy drive from Brisbane.

THE rate of new apartment sales on the Gold Coast and northern NSW has jumped 52 per cent in the past three months, Colliers research has revealed.

According to the Colliers International Gold Coast Apartment Report, released this week, 117 new apartments were sold in the March quarter, compared with 77 the previous quarter.

Colliers International director of project marketing Brinton Keath said several factors had started to encourage investors back to the market.

“In the last quarter the variable home loan rate settled around a historical low of 5.85 per cent and vendors began to meet the market in terms of price,” he said.

“However, what made the most impact to sales this quarter was the surge in inquiry from Brisbane and interstate-based investors looking for Gold Coast apartments, which converted into sales.

“These out-of-towners clearly recognised the value of recent reviews in pricing of apartments by developers and the true value they now represent compared to 12 months ago.

“That said, although activity has picked up of late, the new apartment market is not yet out of the woods.

“Once locals return to the marketplace, coupled with the interstate investor market, we will see a solid lift in the quarterly results. We are just at the beginning of the market turning.”

The report shows the city’s supply of new apartments has tumbled, from 7.3 years in December to 4.6 years three months later.

Apartments in Southport and Labrador captured the lion’s share of sales with 51 transactions, followed by those in Robina/Varsity Lakes, Burleigh Heads and Carrara, with 22 deals.

Units in the beachside hubs of Surfers Paradise, Chevron Island and Main Beach ranked third with 16 sales, just outperforming the North Shore — stretching from Runaway Bay to Hope Island — which registered 15 sales.

Southern beachside apartment projects (with 10 sales), northern NSW (two sales) and Broadbeach (one sale) accounted for the remainder.

The average sale price of a new apartment during the quarter was just over $825,000.

Mr Keath said the latest report had identified a buyer trend towards completed buildings, which accounted for 64 per cent of sales.

“The popularity of Brighton on the Broadwater, Southport Central, Circle on Cavill and Allisee this quarter is evidence of this,” he said.

“The March quarter has also seen highrise sales almost double the number of those recorded during the December quarter.

“This is indicative of immediate to short-term needs of buyers. However, over the coming months, we are expecting off the plan investments to come back in favour as consumer confidence continues to improve and buyers take a long-term view.”

The high rise sector saw the highest number of sales across the board, with 61 transactions recorded in 31 projects for a combined total of $60.7 million. Meriton’s Brighton on Broadbeach’s Marina tower was the top performer with 16 sales.

The medium-rise sector saw 34 sales over 25 projects with a gross value of $24.2 million with the best performing project Stockland’s waterfront Allisee at Hollywell, with 11 sales.

There was a wide range of price points, with sales from about $500,000 to $2.6 million for a penthouse.

The low-rise sector remained relatively static during the March quarter with sales numbers, average prices and gross sales value around the levels of the December quarter. A total of 22 new low-rise apartments were sold during the March quarter, which is up slightly from the 18 sold in the three months to December, 2008.

Colliers’ Gold Coast research manager Lynda Campbell, who compiled the report, said Proud Central at Labrador, a proposed Southport low-rise development, was the only new project to enter the March quarter report.

“With 18 apartments having an average price of $400,000, Proud Central is catering for the first home buyer and investor,” she said.