Property crash? You’re kidding

A LEADING real estate agent says Gold Coast property prices won’t crash – because most interstate migrants don’t have children and plenty of cash to splash.

Rising interest rates have seen house prices fall 2.7 per cent nationally from their peak, with Sydney worst affected.

However Ray White Burleigh Group CEO Tiger Malan said the Gold Coast would escape the downturns because the majority of interstate purchasers were cashed-up empty nesters who didn’t need a mortgage.

“You’re kidding yourself if you think the Gold Coast real estate market is about to crash like other cities,” Mr Malan (pictured) said.

“I know that’s not necessarily what locals want to hear if they’re looking to buy their first home here or upsize with their family but the fact is, there’s still money coming up from down south.

“These people don’t have children, they’re not looking for schools on the Coast.

“They also don’t need to borrow much, if anything, to buy a home here so those rate increases may have a negligible impact on property values locally.”

Mr Malan said beachside suburbs were performing best, with stress more likely in outer suburbs.

“The mortgage belt is struggling a bit more than the beach stuff,” he said. “But we’re still seeing major deals that surprise all of us.”

Mr Malan’s comments are backed up by analysis by the Bulletin, which in August found enrolment numbers at state schools across the city were falling, suggesting families were being driven out of the property market.

The drops were most noticeable at primary school level, indicating student numbers would continue falling on the Gold Coast for the foreseeable future.

Mr Malan’s analysis is also supported by data reported by the Bulletin earlier this month showing huge numbers of people from Sydney and Melbourne plan to move here in the next five years.

Mr Malan said the volume of cashed-up interstate buyers meant the Gold Coast was less susceptible to property price falls than other Australian cities.

“I’m tipping a very soft landing for the Gold Coast,” he said.

“In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to still see growth in some of the more prestige pockets of the Coast.

“Only time will tell but the type of buyer I’m still seeing is a more financially sound one.”

Ray White Surfers Paradise Group CEO Andrew Bell has also predicted the Gold Coast will escape a major downturn, writing last week that the volume of inquiries on properties for sale had “ticked up strongly” in the past four weeks.

“There are parts of Australia reporting a 15 to 20 per cent correction in real estate prices from their peak, but it’s not uniform and there are some very clear signs that the Gold Coast market is among the best performing in Australia,” Mr Bell wrote in his market report.

“At this stage, there is no sign of any substantial decline in migration into Queensland, and in particular the Gold Coast.”