Latest figures produced by our research team at PRDnationwide paint a sobering picture: the affluent end of the property market is bearing the brunt of the downturn in consumer confidence, brought on by the global economic crisis.

Sales activity for $1 million-plus transactions on the Sunshine Coast fell by more than two-thirds during 2008, down 68 per cent on the record 1,424 sales registered in the combined luxury housing and unit sectors in 2007. Instead, the 12 months to December 2008 saw a paltry 457 sales transactions completed - 43 per cent of which occurred within the Maroochy region.

This resulted in the Noosa region, long considered the jewel in the crown of Sunshine Coast property, losing its 15-year title as the Coast’s predominant $1 million-plus market.

In 2008, Buderim proved to be the Sunshine Coast’s most popular suburb for luxury housing by recording 28 sales above the $1 million mark. This accounted for 9.7 per cent of the total number of such houses sold across the entire region and 22 per cent of Maroochy’s total $1 million-plus house sales.

A lowset, three-bedroom home in Neerim Drive, Mooloolaba achieved the Maroochy region’s highest price during this period, selling for $2.475 million in July 2008. This represented a remarkable growth rate of 21 per cent per annum since the house last sold for $565,000 in September 2000, proving that exceptional capital growth rates are still possible, even in the toughest of times.

Similar capital gains could also be found in the Noosa region during 2008, where the most expensive house of the year fetched $6.65 million. The same house was bought for $3 million in 2002 representing an annual growth rate of more than 14 per cent.

However, sales in the luxury home market in Noosa slowed to a snail’s pace in the second half of 2008, falling from a record high of 108 transactions in the six months to December 2007, to a paltry 33 sales for the corresponding period a year later.

Luxury housing in the Caloundra region also took a dive, with four consecutive drops in sales activity registered since the record high of 75 transactions in the six months to June 2007. By marked contrast, the entire calendar year of 2008 saw just 76 $1 million-plus houses change hands.

So don’t get out your painkillers just yet. These figures prove beyond doubt the current market is a buyer’s one.