Three-month surge on GC, house prices up by $80k

MEDIAN house prices on the Gold Coast surged by $79,350 in three months, with frenzied buyer activity and tight supply driving a 30 per cent spike in some suburbs.

Property sales across the region were up 13.9 per cent since December, and 31.4 per cent from a year ago, the latest market report from the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) shows.

Tamborine Mountain recorded the highest quarterly growth for the wider Gold Coast region, up 36.6 per cent to a median house price of $1.1m. It was followed by the more central suburb of Labrador, where prices rose 30.2 per cent to a median of $547,000.

Burleigh Heads was next, up 27.5 per cent to a median of $1.16m, then Carrara, where prices rose 20.8 per cent to $703,000.

Hope Island and Mermaid Beach were also standout performers for the quarter with increases just shy of 20 per cent.

Annually, price rises in Currumbin Valley were strongest, up 42.9 per cent to $1.25m.

It was fuelled by cashed-up interstate buyers purchasing property sight-unseen and local treechangers trading urban life for acreage in the wake of COVID.

REIQ CEO Antonia Mercorella said the quarter revealed continued evidence of the Coast’s rising property market, with house prices up 7.7 per cent region-wide to a median of $700,000.

“People are flocking to lifestyle locations where there is a slower pace of life, where their dollar goes further and where it is bit less densely populated, and I think that’s why areas like Currumbin Valley have performed so strongly,” Ms Mercorella said.

The latest report pointed to a seller’s market, with listings down 12.3 per cent over the year.

These strong conditions were likely to entice more vendors to list their properties over the coming months.

Prestige real estate agent Michael Kollosche said the median house price had been pushed up by affluent buyers’ appetite for luxury property in coastal and acreage suburbs.

In Labrador, new boutique apartments by the Broadwater built for owner-occupiers were replacing the traditional blocks of small units geared towards investors. Meanwhile, older established housing presented an affordable entry to the market.

“We have seen a rise in luxury product being built there, which is lifting that median price, coupled with the highest rate of interstate migration that we’ve seen in 30 years,” Mr Kollosche said.

Harcourts Coastal sales director Rob Forde said even with rising house prices, the Gold Coast still represented excellent value.

“Now more than ever people are drawn to having a sense of space, so whether it’s the ocean, the river or green space, they are prepared to pay more for that and this is reflected in the growth in median prices,” Mr Forde said.

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