Mega rich staying put

THE Gold Coast property market has become so hot the ultra rich are turning down $25m offers for beachfront mansions.

Their turn-off is finding a place of similar ilk.

The rest of us can also expect the boom to continue this year, but with returns of only 11 per cent, a new report shows. The national increase is forecast to be 8 per cent.

The clamour for Coast homes has put the city 15th in the world for annual price growth.

Experienced real estate agent Michael Kollosche said the demand for top property, and its limited supply, meant it was increasingly difficult to sway owners to sell.

“What I have been finding through December and January is that we are putting in unconditional offers to sellers which are well above market values and they decide not to sell,” he said.

“We have a lot of buyers who are sitting on a lot of capital trying to get into the market but in the Mermaid beachfront area I have more than 20 buyers who have put up offers of between $10m and $25m and they cannot get anyone to sell.

“It’s similar across a lot of the blue chip areas now.”

The landscape in the luxury sector is complemented by a new report by Knight Frank Research that shows:

• The Gold Coast ranks 15th out of 46 cities in the world for annual price growth.

• More than 216 properties in the $2m-7m range sold in the third quarter of 2021, the highest on record and up 160 per cent on 2020. This is expected to increase by 8 per cent in 2022.

• There were five sales above $7m, also a record.

• Properties in the $2m-7m range spent on average 122 days on the market in JulySeptember 2021, down from 141 days in the March-june quarter.

Knight Frank Research’s Michelle Ciesielski said Perth and the Gold Coast were “bucking the trend” of a national downturn in unit construction. “Both cities welcome their modestly elevated number of new apartments in the pipeline following a chronic level of under supply and, additionally, for the Gold Coast, a rising population drawn to the relative value and balmy lifestyle,” she said

While thousands of units are being built, the Gold Coast property market is in the midst of a significant shortage of available space.

A Gold Coast apartment essentials report released in November by property consulting firm Urbis showed more units changed hands in the first nine months of last year than any other year.

According to the report, the city had a 2.2 months supply of units on the market, almost half the 4.2 months recorded for the March-june quarter.

Just 517 apartments remained for sale at the end of September, down from 624 at the end of June. At the end of June 2018 there were 2594.

Mr Kollosche warned that the booming market reminded him of 2007 in the months before the GFC took hold.

“If there is to be a slowdown, I think it will be different and not as bad because people are sitting on so much money right now.”

I HAVE MORE THAN 20 BUYERS WHO HAVE PUT UP OFFERS OF BETWEEN $10M AND $25M AND THEY CANNOT GET ANYONE TO SELL MICHAEL KOLLOSCHE