Credit to original source: Gold Coast Bulletin 30/11/20
PROPERTY prices are tipped to boom on the Gold Coast as Victorians and New South Wales buyers flock north to the city at a staggering rate.
A tsunami of tens of thousands of holiday-makers and new residents from Sydney and Victoria will begin flooding into the state from Tuesday morning.
The city’s most prominent real estate agents are putting on extra staff to cope with the demand for sought-after property, ranging from residential houses to units and luxury mansions.
Online removalist platform Muval has revealed it has had a 235 per cent increase in inquiries about moving to the Gold Coast from Victoria.
Muval CEO James Morrell said the global coronavirus pandemic recession “triggered a domestic migration like nothing we’ve ever seen”.
Queensland and the Gold Coast have fared particularly well in the COVID-19 crisis and present an attractive option for interstate residents eyeing off a move north.
“The Gold Coast is one of the most popular cities people are flocking to, with a 108 per cent
increase in inquiries overall and a 235 per cent jump in removal inquiries from Victoria,” Mr Morrell said.
He expected the trend would continue from December 1, when the Federal Government will begin to provide grants of thousands of dollars to encourage jobseekers to relocate for work.
Gold Coast real estate agents have for months been flooded with inquiries from Victorians and New South Welshmen keen to make the sea change earlier than planned on the back of COVID lockdowns.
These were expected to drop off once the lockdown ended but Harcourts Coastal Broadbeach director Dane Atherton said the rate of inquiries had actually increased heading into summer.
“There was a wave of interstate buyers who went in sight unseen but now the early indicator is that this was just the start of a significant migration to the Gold Coast,” he said.
“Over the weekend I sold two houses under the hammer and 75 per cent of the 20 people bidding were from interstate.
“This is the most exciting phase in the Gold Coast’s real estate history in my opinion.”
Leading Gold Coast developers are reporting strong sales on new tower projects which have been fast-tracked to cope with the growing demand.
Kollosche managing director Michael Kollosche said his firm was going to be “particularly busy” during the first weeks of December.
“The trend we are seeing began back in June but now we are seeing people coming up for the holidays and looking to either invest in the short term or relocate.”
Mr Kollosche said buyers were keen to look at properties of all price points and locations, ranging from beachfront and high-end river frontage to units.
Ray White Surfers Paradise boss Andrew Bell said this summer would be a “historic” period for the city as his firm put on extra staff to deal with the demand.
“It is going to be a period of time which we will be talking about for a long time to come – It’ll be one of those real estate markets we all remember,” he said.
“It’s not just buying – there is a huge demand for rentals and if you look at our pre-COVID data we had rental roll of 3500 and typically we’d get 4000-4500 inquiries.
“Now we are getting 10,000 inquiries and it gives you some indication of the growing demand for this area, some of which are people testing it out before buying.”
Mr Bell said the Gold Coast benefited from the $16 billion invested in the city as part of the 2018 Commonwealth Games, saying the city’s potential was coming to fruition as “all the pieces fall into place.”
Echoing other Glitter Strip agents, Landmark Sales Property Group principal Ranine Beaumont-Harvey said the city has already been experiencing a property boom, warning property prices would rise.
She said the property market was already “very strong” before the coronavirus pandemic.
“Then when the pandemic hit the banks predicted we could suffer a 30 per cent drop in prices. However, much to our disbelief, it went in exactly the opposite direction,” she said.
“We’re now looking at a 20 per cent price rise in the next year.”
