Market shows revival

PROPERTY sales have dropped across the Gold Coast as a result of the market slowdown but industry players say the cloud is lifting with activity ramping back up in recent months.

Latest CoreLogic figures show there were 8039 fewer sales in the year to July (10,167) compared to the same period in 2018 (18,206).

Apartments bore the brunt of the blow, with 6350 fewer changing hands in 2018-19.

Property experts blamed the May federal election and stricter lending criteria as a result of the banking royal commission for the slump.

John Henderson Professionals partner Luke Henderson said the federal Labor Opposition’s threat of abolishing negative gearing – in the run-up to the election – had created uncertainty that stalled the market.

“This one was worse than others I’d seen but elections in general stop people investing,” he said.

“Straight after the election we saw a week where it bounced back but then it went quiet again.

“As soon as we hit the later part of July, it was like turning on a tap. It’s gone from a complete buyers market to a complete sellers market now.”

Ray White Surfers Paradise Group chief executive Andrew Bell said a lack of listings as a result of the election was responsible for the drop in sales.

“There was massive concern about the impact on real estate so we slowed enormously in that period,” he said.

“Since then, month-bymonth activity has picked up substantially.”

Mr Bell said more buyers were also holding on to properties for longer, which was contributing to the lack of listings.

“In the past, because of high inflation, real estate was seen as a means to make money,” he said. “That’s not happening the same because property values haven’t been growing as fast.

“It’s more about buying a lifestyle and not looking at real estate purely as a money-making machine.”

With the market slowly returning to a more balanced state, Mr Bell predicted a “good, steady” market for next year.

Real Estate Institute of Queensland director John Newlands said with interest rates at a historic low, buyers were slowly returning to the market more confident.