Our heart’s on our sleeve as odds constantly defied
IN a year that began with bushfires, propelled into a pandemic and then morphed into a global protest movement, it seems there are no sure things in 2020 … except for our city’s ability to defy the odds.
In fact, it’s a true talent of the Gold Coast.
How else would a little holiday town, forced to grow in the shadow of Brisbane’s capital city, have cemented its status as the nation’s sixth largest city? (And inarguably its best.)
While the rest of the county might think we’re nothing but glitz and glamour, 2020 has proven our heart.
Let’s start with the Suns. For a team that’s taken more kicks to their confidence than they have to the actual footy, isn’t it brilliant to see their name shining in third place on the AFL ladder?
To all those who have slagged off our Suns and bemoaned the time and money spent building this team, never paying a moment’s notice to the cultural and community work they undertake, it’s time to sink the boot in.
Sure it’s only two games to celebrate – but what two games they were. Doubters, go buy yourselves a Suns scarf and wrap it around your mouthpiece. Say no to negativity and show some support for your home team. Odds are that you’ll actually enjoy it.
And then there’s the property market, an industry that seems to be a true litmus test for our local economy.
With the onset of COVID19, it seemed glaringly obvious that a wrecking ball was destined for our bricks and mortar market.
And yet … sales are surging and prices in almost all markets are not just holding steady but creeping north.
Experts are betting when the government’s stimulus payments end in September, we’ll face a reckoning.
But there’s a chance the Gold Coast will again defy those odds.
Just last week I received an email from a local real estate agent who honestly seemed a little amazed by his industry’s own good fortune.
“It’s official: the selling season has a new home. You know it as winter – we call it “the new spring,” wrote Richard Snowden from McGrath’s Estate Agents.
“There’s no slow down in sales, and contradicting the downward prediction – the last 27 days have resulted in 21 new listings and 24 sales … including five which sold off market.”
And while I’m usually sceptical of any salesman, friends on the market in various suburbs across the city, in different price brackets, have reported the same results.
One friend was ready to test the market when an earlybird inspector decided to have a look, and then promptly bought the house at asking price. This was not an investor, not a rich purchaser, not a first-home buyer, there were no stimulus grants involved, just good old-fashioned solid demand.
Despite the Prime Minister advising Australia that the economy would go into hibernation, and indeed it is in recession, the growth is continuing on the GC.
As Bulletin journalist Quentin Tod reported yesterday: “The Gold Coast’s development industry is largely withstanding the COVID-19 downturn, with some of the biggest projects the city has ever seen under construction.”
Odds, you are defied. Even as Mayor Tom Tate handed down the city budget yesterday, there was unanimous support for the $1.7 billion “Road to Recovery” package. Who would have tipped that?
Meanwhile, this very paper, in a time when media is being blasted from all sides, has reported a dramatic growth in readership over recent months. Sorry for the shameless plug, but that’s actually good news for the whole city that another industry is sailing into smoother waters.
Of course, there are still far too many doing it tough across the GC – tourism, hospitality and small businesses in general. But they have not, are not and will not be forgotten.
This paper is battling to give them a fighting chance with relaxed border restrictions (although I think we can all agree that Victoria is not invited to our party), and from Coolangatta to Coomera, you can see residents working not just with each other but for each other.
To those who say this city is all surface and no soul, the odds are no longer in your favour.
It’s time to believe in this Gold Coast and back a winner.
Read Ann Wason Moore every Tuesday and Saturday in the