Properties lap up a premium

CASHED-UP buyers are willing to pay more than double the price for Gold Coast waterfront homes, new research reveals.

Knight Frank’s Australian Prime Waterfront Index, which measures how much extra value a waterfront location can add to a property, found the Coast had the second-highest premium behind Sydney.

The best waterfront homes in the NSW capital commanded premiums of 94.9 per cent, while the Coast came in at 66.5 per cent.

Perth (53.6 per cent), Brisbane (45.1 per cent) and Melbourne (27.3 per cent) followed closely behind.

Across Australia, waterfront properties were worth 63 per cent more on average.

Knight Frank’s Australian residential research head Michelle Ciesielski said the index considered many factors.

“Not all absolute waterfront homes are equal and this was reflected in the index, with premium values varying in each city and by the type of waterfront,” she said.

“It’s common to see those buying prestige properties redesign the home to match their style but fundamentally the waterfront location remains.

“Waterfront living is the ultimate lifestyle choice and this helps to underpin the value of these properties.”

Knight Frank’s Queensland head of project marketing Chris Litfin said demand, particularly among those who had moved from interstate, increased the premium for waterfront homes.

“Part of the reason is because the Gold Coast is a migration market,” he said.

“It’s all people that are moving here (who want waterfront).”