Credit to original source: Domain.com.au
Sydney and Melbourne buyers with deep pockets have fuelled the Gold Coast’s biggest property boom in years with house prices in coveted coastal coves surging by $1300 a day, according to the latest Domain House Price Report.
Off the back of an epic love affair with Queensland’s second-largest city, southern migrants helped spark price hikes of up to 47 per cent – or as much as $500,000 – in some sectors, with 17 suburbs now members of the $1 million-plus club.
Hot spots such as Mermaid Waters, Miami, Burleigh, Bundall and Mermaid Beach collected the biggest quarterly and annual price rises, which has led to a series of record-setting sales with pent-up demand tipped to propel the boom well into next year.
According to the report, the Coolangatta region claimed the biggest quarterly price rise of 12.1 per cent – which pushed the median house price to$1.15 million, while the nearby prestige pocket of Mermaid Beach became the Gold Coast’s first suburb with a $2 million median, following an eyewatering 32.4 per cent annual lift to $2.075 million.
Next door – in the fast-rising market of Mermaid Waters – units won gold on the annual price rise podium after it collected a jaw-dropping 47.5 per cent increase to a median of $635,000.
Houses prices in Miami, the report revealed, surged 44 per cent over the same period to $1.205 million, while in Bundall they shot up 34.7 per cent to $1.435 million.
Across the city, the overall median house price increased by a more subdued 1.9 per cent to $820,000 – indicating the growth cycle might have passed its peak – while units collected a stronger 4.9 per cent rise to push prices up by $25,000 to $535,000.
While the rampant price rise is expected to continue at a less voracious pace, Domain chief of research and economics Nicola Powell said the incredible boom in some suburbs highlighted just how much value buyers placed on lifestyle precincts.
“There are many suburbs that have seen eye-watering price changes … and those are really the ‘sand between your toes’ areas that are close to the beach,” Dr Powell said.
“Some have had extraordinary growth of almost 50 per cent [in a year] … and that speaks to the lifestyle buyers are seeking.
“But when you’ve got suburb property prices rising by 20, 30 and 40 per cent a year there comes a fear of overpaying and it leads to buyers being priced out … you also get to a point where you’re nearing the peak of a price cycle when buyers become more astute.
“And when you look at Gold Coast houses, that growth has eased compared to 5.9 per cent over the previous quarter … so, I do think what we have started to see is that momentum slowing.”
While the September quarter saw a less aggressive rise, the strong levels of buyer demand could reach a new crescendo before Christmas, said Ray White Burleigh Group chief executive Larry Malan, whose office collected a 99 per cent auction clearance rate in the past three months.
“We’ve never seen the likes of that before and we never will again … but what we will find going into the summer months is owners’ expectations are becoming quite extreme,” Mr Malan said.
“They are adding in 50 per cent [on top of a realistic sale price] for good measure in the hope they meet a mad person who’ll pay it … and some of them will get it.
“We’ve had a lot of people from down south buy sight unseen but I think there will be a good portion of people who won’t and they are itching and raring to come [once borders reopen]. And the people considering it will do so this Christmas and they’re coming with deep pockets.
“It’s sad to say but this is also having a negative effect on locals. They are being outpriced half the time … and they know what the price was a year ago and they can’t comprehend having to pay 50 per cent more for the same product.”
Mr Malan said the property price storm was centred on north-facing renovators in Broadbeach Waters and Mermaid Waters, where huge prices were being achieved almost on a daily basis.
Gold Coast buyers’ agent Jacob Butler of Hunter Gather said the southern-buyer spike had transformed their client base. Prior to the pandemic, it was 92 per cent local.
“Now, 95 per cent are from interstate. And the majority of that has been from Melbourne. It’s all about a lifestyle change. People have realised they can work remotely [and they want to live here],” Mr Butler said.
“But availability of stock is still really tight and there’s more competition in the market … and then there are a lot of sellers who are just looking to test it. But for those sellers who sell quickly to get a great price … they then get caught because they’ve got to get back into the same market.
“And I think more growth will happen but at a more sustainable level.”
According to the Domain House Price Report, other top performing suburbs included Tugun, where the median house price rose 23.9 per cent over the year to $942,000, with the unit median soaring by 30.7 per cent to $635,000.
Paradise Point houses collected a 29.6 per cent annual rise to $1.555 million, while the Broadbeach Water house median jumped 34.7 per cent to $1.46 million.
