'It's a great time to own a motel': Border boom for accommodation sales

Albury-based agency MHB has brokered deals for five motels in the Twin Cities in the space of 12 months.

Elm Court on Townsend Street, the Albury Georgian Motel and Suites on Young Street, Albury Townhouse on the corner of Wilson and David streets, as well as the Albury Classic Motor Inn on Wagga Road in Lavington have all changed hands north of the border, while Wodonga's Warrina Motel on High Street also transacted in the same period.

Beyond Albury-Wodonga, Corryong Country Inn was snapped up, while in June 2024, the agency sold the Rutherglen Motor Inn and the Armour Motel at Beechworth to close out a massive financial year across the region.

Brokering agent Dan McDonald said the accommodation business model had held up particularly well post-COVID restrictions.

"Geographically, motel accommodation is critical in Australia across the vast distances many of us cover for business, family, and leisure," he said.

"The business model enjoys low costs of goods and is not wage heavy, so across inflationary and employee pressure points of late, the resilience of the accommodation industry has made motels and caravan parks highly sought after."

Despite the rising number of short-stay options such as Airbnb properties, Mr McDonald said he hadn't seen any hesitancy from his client base in regards to motel purchases.

"Demand for accommodation continues to rise, most of my client base had record years in the 2023 financial year, with 2024 looking similarly strong compared to pre-COVID sales data," he said,

"Also, the domestic housing shortage, renewable energy infrastructure investment across the country and immigration labour workforce have all impacted the availability of short-term accommodation, so as a consequence Airbnb offerings have not impacted motel sales revenue."

Mr McDonald said MHB had another central Albury motel listed off market for more than $4 million, which has had strong interest.

"The majority of our motel sales listed were off market sales, such is the strength of the motel market place," he said.

"Discrete, off market sales have become a really effective strategy for our client base, with record sales results achieved without advertising the properties for sale.

"Across the next week we are releasing three new motels to market in Yarrawonga-Mulwala, the Alpine region and Morwell. We expect significant interest in all three.

"Buyer demand is at an all-time high and quality listing are very limited on the open market currently. It's a great time to own a motel."

Motels in Port Douglas in far northern Queensland, as well as Griffith in the Riverina and Hepburn Springs in Victoria's west have also been recently sold by MHB.