Pilbara's millionaire property brothers Ryan and Morgan Crawford facing ANZ repossession
The two brothers who rode the heights of the Pilbara property boom are facing bank foreclosure on part of their property portfolio.
Ryan and Morgan Crawford headed the estate agency that sought east coast investors during the mining boom.
They also invested with much of their own property empire now sold for a fraction of the purchase price, according to Landgate records.
Documents filed in the Supreme Court last week on a repossession application reveal the proceeds have fallen well short of what was owed.
The ANZ Bank wants to repossess one property owned by Ryan Crawford, and has demanded the balance of the outstanding debt, plus interest and costs.
In total, the local newspaper reported the brothers and former colleague Mark Pages-Oliver borrowed more than $5.5 million from ANZ in four years..
Court documents advise the borrowed money was used to buy properties in Port Hedland, South Hedland, Karratha, Roebourne and Newman between 2009 and 2013.
Property prices in Karratha and Port Hedland have fallen dramatically over the past five years.
As guarantors for Niche Residential Pty Ltd, ANZ claimed the brothers took out a $560,000 loan in 2012, which was used to buy an $800,000 three-bedroom, one-bathroom property in South Hedland.
Landgate records show that property was sold in September last year for $79,000, with the bank collecting just $49,600 at settlement.
ANZ claimed in 2013, Morgan Crawford borrowed $920,000 for a $1.25 million three-bedroom, one-bathroom house, again in South Hedland, which sold for $205,000 last year.
The bank received $149,400 at settlement, the document alleges.
Pages-Oliver and Ryan Crawford borrowed $744,000 for a three-bedroom, two-bathroom luxury apartment in Karratha’s Pelago building for $994,900 in 2011 and sold it for $400,000 in January.
ANZ collected $373,995 from the sale, which allegedly did not cover the balance of the outstanding debt.
Properties owned by the brothers included:
9 Arabella Street South Hedland
12 Banksia Street South Hedland
Real Estate Institute of WA president Hayden Groves said the men may have “suffered the same as mum and dad investors” in the region.
“Those sort of market environments, such as the Pilbara, and the towns within it, they are not really for the faint hearted,” he said.
“Investors are attracted to quick returns in any environment ... but any immediate and high-return strategy comes with more risk.
“Unfortunately many investors were caught up in the desirability of having a quick and high return, and sadly many did not get out in time and suffered significant losses as a result.”
Efforts by The West newspaper to contact Ryan and Morgan Crawford and Pages-Oliver, who is believed to be living overseas, were unsuccessful.