Big splash for the cash
Gold Coast in global growth list
The Glitter Strip’s prestige market has outperformed on a global ranking – but you’ll still get far more bang for buck than in other luxury hubs.
The Wealth Report 2024 by Knight Frank shows the Gold Coast and Perth were the only Australian markets where growth surpassed the global average, while luxury residential markets proved resilient in 2023 despite successive interest rate hikes.
A budget of US$1 million ($1.5m) will buy 112sq m of real estate on the Gold Coast – down from 117sq m in 2022, but still about three times more than in Sydney, where the same coin will cover just 43sq m (down from 44sq m).
But luxury property in both Aussie cities was far more affordable than other markets around the world, such as Monaco, where you’ll get just 16sq m and Aspen, where US$1M buys just 20sq m.
The report’s Prime Interna
tional Residential Index (PIRI 100) shows luxury residential property prices climbed 3.1 per cent on average across 100 locations around the world.
Perth recorded growth of 5.2 per cent and the Gold Coast 4.1 per cent, to rank 28th and 38th respectively.
Sydney came in at 49th place, equal with Barcelona, with growth of 2.7 per cent, followed by Brisbane in 58th place (+2.3 per cent), and Mel
bourne in 63rd place (+1.4 per cent).
Knight Frank head of international residential and country research Kate EverettAllen said markets worldwide had exceeded early predictions, while luxury buyers preferred to park their cash in “sun locations” over city or ski destinations.
“At the start of 2023, economists were expecting a much weaker outcome across global
residential property markets,” Ms Everett-allen said.
“However, that never happened – we’ve seen a much softer landing in terms of price performance around the world.”
Billionaire Clive Palmer stoked the Gold Coast’s property coffers by about $45m this month, splashing $28m on a huge beachfront lot on Mermaid Beach’s Hedges Ave just days after inking another
$16.95m deal up the road. About 35 properties with pricetags of $10m or more were listed for sale on realestate.com.au this week.
Among them was an elegant riverfront home in a dress circle Southport location for $24.85m, a flashy Helensvale pad known as the Candy Shop Mansion, and a sleek Broadbeach Waters entertainer used as the set for a season of reality series, The Bachelor.