The Gold Coast’s fastest-selling suburbs

HOUSES in the Gold Coast’s most sought-after suburbs are selling just hours after being listed, or even before they hit the market, as agents struggle to meet the demand of desperate buyers.

Data from realestate.com.au reveals the more established central suburbs, and beachside postcodes from Mermaid Beach to Coolangatta in the south, are the fastest selling, but estate agents say the effect of the COVID-induced property bubble is widespread.

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Houses for sale in Gilston and Varsity Lakes spent the shortest time on the market last year, with the median number of days at 43 for both, followed by Burleigh Waters, Highland Park and Mermaid Beach, with 46, 47 and 49 days, according to realestate.com.au.

For units, Reedy Creek, Mudgeeraba and Mermaid Waters were the fastest-selling areas in the 12 months to January, with median days on the market at 52, 53 and 56 respectively.

Anecdotally, however, agents report homes are selling much faster across the Coast, as the property pressure-cooker continues to boil, defying last year’s early predictions of a market slump.

Lucy Cole, the managing director of Lucy Cole Prestige, said demand had surged in northern suburbs that benefitted from recent infrastructure investment and good public transport links.

“What we are experiencing in some areas, Parkwood especially, is that properties are selling as soon as we get them, sometimes within hours or the same day,” Ms Cole said.

“We have people lining up at open homes before we even get there, and they are so keen they come prepared to pay the listed price, or above, which is quite rare,” she said.

A property at 10 Paperbark Court, Parkwood, close to the Gold Coast University Hospital and Griffith University, sold sight-unseen to an interstate investor hours after hitting the market, while another two homes recently sold by Lucy Cole Prestige set area price records.

Waterfront suburbs including the Isle of Capri, Sorrento and Benowa were also hot and tightly held.

“We are really struggling to get properties, and people are scouring the internet who are on the phone straight away wanting an inspection as soon as there is a new listing,” Ms Cole said.

“I guess the hardest thing is to be able to talk to owner-occupiers or landlords about putting their property on the market, because some are quite content to sit and wait, but I think if someone is waiting for that lottery ticket or premium price, this is the time to achieve it. It is a seller’s market.”

Danny O’Donnell of PRD Nationwide Burleigh Waters sold a renovated home at 118 Burleigh Street, Burleigh Waters, prior to auction after being inundated with interest when the property listed in November. The owners held out for the scheduled open house inspection to allow for greater market exposure, but sold for $1.55m after just 10 days.

Mr O’Donnell said while speedy transactions were now standard, the rise in properties being sold off-market had tightened the screws on the already heated market further.

“The biggest mistake I’m finding is agents convincing their vendors to sell off-market,” he said.

“I don’t think it is in the best interests of the vendor in a market as buoyant as it is right now, and with a lack of stock.”

Mr O’Donnell said despite heavy early inquiries from interstate, the bulk of buyers remained local, with properties in the mid-range price bracket the most hotly contested.

“Anything close to James Street or Burleigh Beach has always been sought after, and it has become very challenging to find a home in this little pocket off Burleigh Street to the Gold Coast Highway, for less than $1m, whereas 18 months ago you could,” he said.

“It’s embarrassing because you get plenty of inquiries from people who have up to $1.1m to spend and you just can’t source them anything.

“Will that change? It could, but it’s not evident right now,” he said.

House flipper James Yorath took the heated property market head-on – buying, renovating and selling a home in only three months in popular Burleigh Waters.

The property investor set himself the hair-raising task of upgrading a dated four-bedroom house at 3 Silkyoak Court in ten weeks so he could list the property in time for a new buyer to be settled in by Christmas.

The house sold for $1.017m just three days after hitting the market – mission accomplished for the 35-year-old, who said he was “super surprised” with the swift turnaround.

“Our goal was to have it delivered before Christmas,” said Mr Yorath, who has now renovated and sold three homes under his business, Living The Dream Property.

“It went on the market and by the next morning, we had two or three written offers on it, but because we’d planned to go to auction we went into the open house that weekend. By that Saturday afternoon it was under contract.”

Mr Yorath purchased the single-level home in July last year for $742,500, then worked with a

team of local sub-contractors to complete a schedule of renovations, including upgrades to the bathrooms, kitchen and pool, as well as new flooring, landscaping and painting inside and out.

The house was listed for sale with Rebecca Moffrey of John Henderson Real Estate, who said the fast sale was typical of the tight market, with potential sellers holding onto their properties for fear they would miss out on purchasing elsewhere.

FASTEST SELLING SUBURBS: HOUSES

Gilston 43 (average days on market)

Varsity Lakes 43

Burleigh Waters 46

Highland Park 47

Mermaid Beach 49

Merrimac 51

Palm Beach 52

Elanora 52

Robina 53

Mudgeeraba 54

FASTEST SELLING SUBURBS: UNITS

Reedy Creek 52 (average days on market)

Mudgeeraba 53

Mermaid Waters 56

Miami 59

Burleigh Heads 59

Varsity Lakes 61

Currumbin Waters 61

Coolangatta 62

Molendinar 63

Nerang 63

Source: REA, data relevant for the 12 months to January 31