The only way is up for Gold Coast prices

As some of us were sitting down to crack open yet another Easter egg on the weekend, others were pounding the streets, attending open homes and auctions across the Coast.

With inquiry numbers well above average for this time of year, not even last week’s threat of a potential COVID-induced shutdown could deter desperate house-hunters.

But who can blame them?

MORE NEWS Burleigh drug den turned show home smashes suburb record

Titans co-captain raises a virtual toast to the sale of his Burleigh home

Buyers fork out $10,000 a sqm for old beachside properties

According to CoreLogic’s monthly home value index, we’re in the midst of the fastest-growing market in 32 years, with prices rising across the board by 2.8 per cent in March.

According to the data company’s research director Tim Lawless, it is the fastest monthly rise since 1988.

Meanwhile, recent REIQ statistics showed some suburbs were registering more than 30 per cent growth in a quarter, while another five Gold Coast suburbs have just joined the $1m median house price club.

So, no, buyers don’t have time to rest on their laurels, because there is only one way that house prices are going and that is up.

Despite record-low stock levels, one only has to look at some of the monthly sales results starting to filter out from local agencies to see by just how much.

Harcourts Coastal was the first to announce on Friday that it had sold more than $225m worth of property on the Coast in March, and a staggering $559m for the quarter.

Kollosche followed suit announcing more than $140m worth of unconditional sales in March and more than $450m for the quarter.

Other agencies’ results will no doubt follow suit.

Tiger Malan of Ray White Mermaid Beach said non-beachfront suburbs were among those registering the fastest price rises.

“Mermaid Waters, Burleigh Waters, anything that’s close to a suburb that isn’t achievable for everyone, are the ones running hot,” Mr Malan said.

“Palm Beach is seeing a lot of activity, particularly for knockdowns, and dry blocks in these suburbs are achieving the prices once reserved for waterfront properties. FOMO is so real right now.”

Rob Lamb of Kollosche Prestige said while the traditional best-performing suburbs continued to outperform, the surrounding suburbs were also experiencing record growth because of the scarcity of stock.

“As people don’t have the budget to buy in the area they really love, they are spilling in to the surrounding suburbs.”

In some areas home values are rising, not by tens of thousands, but hundreds of thousands in mere months.

Mr Lamb said in past times you would have had to invest significant amounts of money in a property to realise a large capital gain in a short period of time.

“But the market is moving at such a fast pace, that in six months you can realise a capital gain of a few hundred thousand, just by doing nothing.

“Those who are smart are jumping in and buying knockdowns, doing the renovations to turn them around quickly and capitalising on the market.”

Mr Lamb said even apartments were benefitting from the buoyant conditions.

“Traditionally it can be difficult to realise capital gains on units, yet there has been a spike with residential apartments, where people are selling at peak prices. That’s something we haven’t seen since 2007,” he said.

“For example, we just sold a full-floor unit on Broadbeach Boulevard for $3.6m in nine days.

A comparable unit in the same building sold in 2020 for $3.25m.”

Achieving record prices used to be a milestone, but Andrew Henderson of John Henderson, The Professionals, said it was now becoming the norm.

“It seems to be that in a building or a street where you set a record, the next house sold in that street or building will set a new one,” he said.

“And until we see supply levels move, we are going to continue to see records tumble.”

While no one can predict the future, Mr Henderson believes there is little on the horizon that can alter the current state of the market.

In fact, he believes there is definite scope for further price rises into the second half of the year.

“Most of the sales at the moment are still dominated by owner-occupiers. Investors aren’t really there, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens when they return,” he said.

“The only two things I can see that would affect the situation is a flush of new stock or vendors’ adopting unrealistic price expectations.”

Source