Interstate buyers sweating on listings

PROPERTY experts expect green shoots of new property to hit the market at the start of spring – and we’ll need it because the long line of interstate investors migrating north is lengthening.

The city is bracing for a spring selling season like never before, bolstered by fevered demand from lockeddown interstate buyers desperate for a slice of Gold Coast real estate.

Australian Bureau of Statistics 2020 data shows more than 18,000 Sydney residents and 12,000 Victorians had moved interstate since the pandemic began.

REA Group data shows listings were up 51 per cent in the acreage suburb of Gilston bordering the Nerang River, followed by Burleigh Heads and Surfers Paradise, up 38 per cent and 37 per cent respectively.

Other top-ranked suburbs were Mermaid Waters, Highland Park, Tallebudgera Valley, Tallebudgera, Biggera Waters, South Stradbroke and Palm Beach.

“I think we will probably see quite a strong increase in listings early in spring,” REA Group head of economic research Cameron Kusher said.

“We have seen a lot of people migrating to southeast Queensland from NSW and Victoria and we can already see search volumes from those states are very strong.”

CoreLogic national data shows new listings rose by an average of 15.7 per cent in spring over the 10 years to 2019. Sales were up 6.8 per cent.

CoreLogic head of research Eliza Owen said listings dropped in capital cities in extended lockdowns, leading buyers to postpone property purchases in those centres.

Harcourts Coastal director Dane Atherton said “springlike activity” had been experienced through the traditionally slower winter months of July and August.

“I think we are going to see a continuation of the incredible lack of supply and incredible demand,” he said.

“We might see listings slightly increased because of the seasonal nature of sellers wanting to come on to the market in spring, but that is going to be more than absorbed by an oversupply of buyers.

“I don’t think that is going to change. In fact, lockdowns often fuel transactions for us. The longer the southern states are in lockdown, the more anxious they are to secure a piece of Gold Coast real estate,” he said.

With interstate transactions accounting for about 30 per cent of the marketplace, Kollosche principal Michael Kollosche said remote property inspections and auctions were now standard practice.

“You have to do it these days on every listing, to make it available for people who are interstate or offshore. You just don’t know what is going to happen from one day to the next,” Mr Kollosche said.

“I think we’ll probably see a lot of interstate buyers through that spring season.”

Amir Mian, principal of Amir Prestige, said living with the pandemic had forced a change on the nation’s psyche.

“While people are in lockdown in some states they are unhappy and dissatisfied with their quality of life, but on the Gold Coast people right now are happy,” he said.

“They are content and they are living the dream, and when we are driven by internal satisfaction that is a very compelling reason for people to invest in our market.”