BUT GOLD COAST PROPERTIES STILL ATTRACTING HUNDREDS OF ENQUIRIES

The Gold Coast is still attracting large crowds to home opens, while interstate investors are seemingly unperturbed by recent price falls as they seek market value and high rental yields.

It’s been a longstanding metaphor for failure – to build a house on sand – but Queensland’s Gold Coast stands on a strong foundation of investors steadily flowing in and searching for a place to call home

With proximity to the ocean, postcard vistas around every corner and an abundance of lifestyle choices, that influx has not stopped in the face of Covid, interest rates rises, inflation, or supply and labour challenges.

While not immune to these market factors, local experts say there is still a high level of investor and first-home buyer interest.

Tony Coughran, Property Advisor and Valuer, Simply Gold Coast

Tony Coughran, Property Advisor and Valuer for Simply Gold Coast, told Australian Property Investor Magazine (API) their investment advice had shifted with the times.

“We’ve always been helping people with a five-year plan to buy an investment on the Gold Coast and live in it, which is a very popular strategy.

“Now, instead of a five-year plan, it’s been a six-month plan or a three-month plan, especially during the height of the Covid lockdown,” Mr Coughran said.

“People wanted to get out and they’re creating a new chapter of life and new lifestyle, they’re really enjoying it.

“What happens is, you have the snowball effect, where their friends and families follow suit. “It’s really created a lot more courage in buyers to take that move earlier, so it’s really fast forwarded the trend.

“Covid’s unveiled that you can certainly work anywhere in Australia, with the Zoom rooms and working from home.

“Having two airports, having access to Brisbane Airport and Gold Coast Airport, does make it popular for people who do need to go to Sydney once or twice a week,” Mr Coughran said.

Investment specialist at Professionals Collective, Brenden Musca, despite what the media are telling us, the number of people coming through open homes hasn’t waned.

“The interstate people are looking at it from an investment point of view but the young families in the 20s and 30 bracket are coming in to buy their first home but there are so many young people coming in to buy their second home too.”

Ignoring the news

The media is all doom and gloom when it comes to the property market at the moment Mr Musca says, we still have a strong buyer interest across all price points and that the buyers are not feeling a pinch when it comes to properties or worrying about a significant drop in the market.

“Luckily, on the Gold Coast, when the media is reporting that the property market is dropping it is not as hard felt here. While our market has soften a little we are still significate price rise on the properties price base upon pre-covid pricing. The Gold Coast, in particular the Burleigh and surrounding areas are holding their own ground.

Sure we are not getting the mass onslaught of multiple offers $300,000 – $400,000 over some asking price like we were 12 month ago, but property sellers are still seeing a great return”.

“What I love about the Gold Coast is that the real estate market just keeps going to keep going, no matter what dip or recession we get. At every open home we are meeting groups of people that are actually ignoring the media and they’re coming in and wanting to buy properties”.

BuyersBuyers co-founder Pete Wargent said property investors looking into southeast Queensland will be relieved a controversial land tax plan has been shelved.

“Southeast Queensland is usually the most popular choice for interstate investors, and now we expect that to continue, which should help to take some of the pressure off rental markets.”

“On the Gold Coast, buyer sentiment is significantly cooler than it was a year ago, and there is no scope to negotiate much more forcefully on price and terms for investment grade properties,” Mr Wargent said.

Gold Coast’s top 10

There are opportunities, however, according to a top ten list of Gold Coat suburbs for investors looking to buy a house with a budget range from $700,000 to $1,200,000, recently released by the BuyersBuyers network.

“Upper Coomera, Helensvale, Southport, Ormeau, Nerang, Pacific Pines, Pimpama, Coomera, and Mudgeeraba, are suburbs where buyers can negotiate attractive deals in the current market,” Mr Wargent said.

“Vacancy rates are low in the suburbs we have picked and there is very little risk of detached housing oversupply in most landlocked areas on the Gold Coast as population growth from overseas migration picks up rapidly.

Tony Coughran has observed the shortage of land pushing values up on the outer areas of the Gold Coast.

“Still, you can be in Helensvale or Narang, those sorts of suburbs and still be 20-25 minutes from The Broadwater estuary, it’s not that far out. It’s like a ripple effect. Entry level prices ranges are really popular.

“In Pimpama, there was a duplex that was asking $525,000,” Mr Coughran said.

“In one open house there were 29 groups through and multiple offers and they sold it well above asking price at $595,000, which is an example of the buyer pressure around entry-level suburbs.”

“What I am hearing speaking to my investors, the entry-level, affordable price brackets (sub $1million for a house, sub $600,000 for a villa) are really in demand, it’s super-hot in the $400,000 to $1 million range,” Mr Musca said. “It goes against what the media are saying”.

If you are looking to invest, please give Brenden Musca a call on 0400 167 594.

Information sourced from www.apimagazine.com.au