Promising future for Carrara

Carrara is cementing itself as a hub for boutique high-end residential development

THE Gold Coast suburb of Carrara — which took centre stage during the opening and closing ceremonies of the Commonwealth Games — is being touted as the next gold medal performer in property sales and growth.

Knight Frank director Chris Litfin said while many international visitors might not have heard of Carrara prior to the Games build-up, recent sales results showed Gold Coasters and foreign investors ere flocking to the area.

He said one of the suburb’s latest success stories as the Eleve project at Palm Meadows, which recently settled all 61 apartments sold in its first stage for more than $15 million.

Eleve, which has a second stage in the pipeline, is being developed by Hungtat Worldwide, associated with Macau casino tycoon Dr Stanley Ho and his wife Angela Leong.

Hungtat has previously been behind the Gold Coast’s The Wave tower in Broadbeach and Sydney’s Kirribilli Grande community.

Market analysts Urbis recently found the Gold Coast’s coastal fringe precinct, which is centred around Carrara, was the most active area for apartment sales in the city in the December quarter, recording 77 sales for an average of $537,000.

Mr Litfin said the reason for the activity coastal fringe area who don’t want to move to a smaller apartment near the beach — they want to stay in their neighbourhood and live in a boutique building with larger apartments on a big, abundantly landscaped site.

“Carrara is known as a ‘green belt’ suburb, so projects like Eleve, which are surrounded by parklands and golf courses, appeal strongly to buyers who want a resort-style lifestyle in an area that is still highly accessible.

“Carrara is just a short drive from the beach and the Robina and Southport CBDs, and new apartments there are geared towards owner occupiers because developers see the appeal of delivering a premium project in the coastal fringe as opposed to lesser liveability near the beach where sites are smaller and more expensive”