Suburb bucking a downwards trend

THE heat in the Gold Coast property market has sizzled out in recent months, but one of the city’s most popular suburbs is bucking the trend.

Latest CoreLogic data shows the median house price in Mermaid Beach dropped 12.6 per cent to $1.35 million in the year to December – more than any other Coast suburb – but a number of recent sales prove it is not all doom and gloom.

A 1960s built cottage at 60 Seagull Ave sold for $1.3 million last month – $13,500 more than when it last sold in July 2017.

Another property on the same street at No.37 sold for $200,000 more in January compared to March 2016 when it fetched $1.3 million.

A few streets north, an old house at 38 Surf St was snapped up for $1.75 million last month less than three years after selling for $1.55 million.

REIQ Gold Coast zone chair Andrew Henderson said the suburb’s median house price often fluctuated.

“Fluctuations come down to the amount of sales that occur on Hedges or Albatross avenues,” he said. “They are such big-ticket items, and if you get three or four sales on the beach in a quarter versus none it has a big impact.”

Mr Henderson said the area had a mixed bag of properties available ranging from shacks to mansions.

“The older shacks at the moment are very strong in the market.

“The last six months especially, buyers are securing land now to build a house on in the future. People build to live in them permanently so there’s not a lot of those that have changed hands which, again, will all impact on the median price.”

Professionals John Henderson Real Estate director Luke Henderson said demand for properties in the suburb had kept prices strong.

He said there were several factors that made it a standout performer in recent years.

“Firstly, the council protected the three-storey height limits in the residential area, which has helped to keep the strong community feel, enhanced the lifestyle of the area and has encouraged property owners to upgrade their homes without the fear that a high-rise apartment will be built next door,” he said. “At the same time the council has allowed lowrise developments along the Gold Coast Hwy, which has revitalised what was becoming a tired strip of shops.

“The suburb has become a dining destination and it is home to some of the city’s best restaurants, cafes and bars. Then you have the knowledge that the light rail is coming, which is also adding to the desire to live in the area.”

Ray White Broadbeach agent Daniel Donovan said sales in the suburb had picked up recently following a slow end to last year.

“Towards the back end of last year, the beachside market definitely slowed down,” he said. “There were a few properties that took a hit.

“Coming into January, there’s been a whole new pool of buyers. I reckon Mermaid always seems to dodge the rest of the market place.” SOCIAL media has become the new smoko as workers break up their day with sneaky checks of posts and feeds.

While some say the technology-driven respite is a healthier alternative to the traditional cigarette break, others see it as simply a new-age addiction.

More than one-third of Australians (35 per cent) accessed social media more than five times a day in 2018, up from 26 per cent a year earlier, according to Sensis’s Yellow Social Media Report, which surveyed 1500 Australians.

Meanwhile, a poll of 2000 Australians by SEEK showed 57 per cent of respondents admitted to checking Facebook during work hours. Some employers block social media access on work devices, but this was becoming less common, Nick Deligiannis, managing director of Hays, said.

“Very few organisations these days ban their staff from using social media at work (as) it’s an expensive process and most people have smartphones anyway,” he said. “Instead, most employers are focused on building a workplace culture of freedom and trust.”

Globally, 2018 data from Sprout Social showed people were most active on Facebook at about 2pm on Wednesday and Thursday.