The average price for new apartments sold on the Gold Coast has risen more than $500,000 in the past six months as sustained demand and dwindling supply combined with a sharp rise in interstate investor activity and construction costs continue to impact property values.

The <a href="/architects/urbis">Urbis</a> Apartment Market Essentials report for the March quarter has revealed that new apartment sales achieved a weighted average sale price of $1.73 million, the highest since Urbis began monitoring the new apartment market in 2014.&nbsp;

This is up from $1.67 million in the December quarter, and $1.13 million in September quarter.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=112024 project_image_fid=241133]

The <a href="/developments/gold-coast-qld">Gold Coast</a>&nbsp;recorded 240 new apartment sales in the three months to the end of March, on par with the 236 sales in the previous quarter, which Urbis director Paul Riga says highlights the consistency of demand.

“Price growth has been a key feature of the latest data along with a strong resurgence of investor activity,” Riga said.

“Interstate investors in the latest quarter have overtaken owner-occupiers at the rate of 38 per cent versus 29 per cent of total sales. Local investors accounted for 20% of sales and overseas buyers 13%.&nbsp;

“This is a significant shift from the trend of recent years when we saw an all-time high of 65 per cent owner-occupier sales in 2020 during the peak of the pandemic.&nbsp;

“While the owner-occupier market remains strong, the latest quarter possibly signals a return to long-term trends as prior to 2016 owner occupiers accounted for 30 per cent of sales.”

[smartcode_project:default project_id=102340 project_image_fid=273593]

Urbis data shows that 59 per cent of sales comprised two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartments, which is typically favoured by investors, while 29 per cent of sales were three-bedroom apartments.

“The low level of new supply coming to the market is keeping conditions tight, with only two new projects yielding a total of 112 apartments launched on the Gold Coast during the first quarter of 2024.”

Urbis has again reiterated that the broader Gold Coast market remains undersupplied, with just 1,396 apartments remaining for sale which is the lowest since the end of 2022.

Nearly all of the sales in the March quarter were made in the traditional Surfers Paradise-Broadbeach precinct, with the main contributors being <a href="/new-apartments/victoria-albert-broadbeach-20-albert-avenue-broadbeach">V&amp;A Broadbeach</a>, <a href="/new-apartments/crest-broadbeach-13-armrick-avenue-broadbeach">Crest Broadbeach</a> and <a href="/new-apartments/vista-surfers-paradise-26-vista-street-surfers-paradise">26 Vista</a>.

“That’s understandable as 92 per cent of the remaining supply is located in the Gold Coast Central Precinct,” Riga added.

“All other precincts on the Coast remain in undersupply.”

[smartcode_project:default project_id=107928 project_image_fid=234098]

Of the 240 total sales recorded during the quarter, 229 were located in <a href="/developments/surfers-paradise-qld-4217">Surfers Paradise</a>, <a href="/developments/chevron-island-qld-4217">Chevron Island</a>, <a href="/developments/broadbeach-qld-4218">Broadbeach</a>, and <a href="/developments/main-beach-qld-4217">Main Beach</a>.

“The Central Precinct is heading back to its roots with current and future projects moving to higher density and multiple-tower projects post-pandemic.

“Looking ahead, the majority of apartments in future supply are also located in the precinct so the strong sales rates should continue.”

[smartcode_project:default project_id=108641 project_image_fid=192961]

The heightened buyer activity in the Gold Coast Central Precinct led to a weighted average sale price of $1.7 million during the first three months of this year which is also the highest since Urbis began monitoring the new apartment market a decade ago.

Almost all of the sales across the Gold Coast, or 91 per cent of them, during the quarter were priced at more than $1 million, while the remaining nine per cent were priced from $600,000 to $999,999.

The Gold Coast recorded 240 new apartment sales in the three months to the end of March, on par with the 236 sales in the previous quarter

Joel Robinson

New Gold Coast apartment prices surge $500,000 in six months as investors return

The average price for a new Gold Coast apartment has topped $1.6 million for the first time as owner-occupiers swamped the market in the December quarter to snap up dwindling supply, research by Colliers has found

The number of new apartment sales in the three months to the end of December may be the second lowest of any quarter in the past three years, but the average price is 14.5 per cent higher than the previous record of $1.44 million in the September quarter of 2022 and 45 per cent up quarter on quarter from the $1.134 million average at the end of September last year.

<a href="/project-marketer/colliers">Colliers</a>’ latest <a href="/developments/gold-coast-qld">Gold Coast</a> Residential Market Report has revealed that just 236 new apartments were sold in the December quarter, just ahead of 211 sales in the June quarter and just over half the 470 sales recorded in the September quarter.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=113271 project_image_fid=247280]

Total sales of 1,205 new apartments for 2023 were down 13 per cent on the 1,389 sales recorded in 2022, and less than half the 2,492 apartments sold in 2021 at the peak of the national construction boom.

“The latest sales numbers reflect the ongoing challenges of meeting demand for new apartments on the Gold Coast,” said David Higgins, the Gold Coast Director Residential at Colliers. &nbsp;

“We are really seeing residential projects struggling now out of the ground, due to the massive increase in construction costs, making many projects just not feasible in current cycle.

“Sales volumes are lower while average prices have spiked higher as supply and variety of stock remains constrained. It’s causing a massive fluctuation of pricing in the market.

“The pricing is also reflected in a resurgence of owner-occupiers who accounted for 55 per cent of the sales over the quarter.”

[smartcode_project:default project_id=107928 project_image_fid=234153]

Broadbeach and Surfers Paradise dominated the market in both sales and supply over the 2023 calendar year, with the Gold Coast’s prime central suburbs accounting for about 70 per cent of total sales.&nbsp;

The Gold Coast Central precinct, which includes Southport-Labrador and stretches south to Burleigh Heads, remained the hotspot for development activity during the quarter with 20 of the 30 apartment projects available for sale located there.&nbsp;

There are just 1,489 apartments in total remaining for sale from these projects, out of a total of 4,471 that have been put to the market. &nbsp;&nbsp;

While Colliers forecasts that about 2,850 apartments will be completed on the Gold Coast in calendar 2024, this won’t do anything to ease supply constraints.&nbsp;

“The bulk of these apartments have already been presold over the past few years, so this will not help deliver additional supply,” Higgins added.

Colliers research also shows that low vacancy rates across the Gold Coast have helped drive median weekly apartment rental rates by 10 per cent over the year from $682 to $750 a week.

“Increasing rental yields reflect the substantial growth of the investment market across the Gold Coast new apartment market.&nbsp;

“The apartment market continues to be supported by local and interstate investors who are taking advantage of the strong yields.”

Broadbeach and Surfers Paradise dominated the market in both sales and supply over the 2023 calendar year, with the Gold Coast’s prime central suburbs accounting for about 70 per cent of total sales

Staff Writer

Gold Coast apartment prices hit record highs

The number of off the plan apartments in Brisbane is heading toward five-year lows, data from Urbis found.

The&nbsp;Urbis Apartment Essentials Report showed there were 112 sales in Q4 2023 in <a href="/developments/brisbane-qld">Brisbane</a>, with the lowly stock levels resulting in just 512 apartments available to buy.&nbsp;

Supply has been dwindling since Q1 2023 when there were nearly 1,400 apartments on the market with around 500 of those being sold.

<img alt="Brisbane Apartment Market Insights Q4 2023" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="57b2ae14-dd5b-4e5a-a256-d44f13518f6c" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Total%20sales%20v%20available%20stock%20Brisbane.jpg?VersionId=0G5ibSO._0BkgWusjAZSZIyc1Wk.nj7r" />

Developers who are able to get their projects in market are reaping the benefits.&nbsp;

<a href="/developers/kokoda-property">Kokoda Property</a>'s apartment development <a href="/new-apartments/ruby-ruby-milton-12-crombie-street-milton">Ruby Ruby</a> in <a href="/developments/milton-qld-4064">Milton</a> saw took 87 of the 112 sales over the quarter, with a weighted average sale price of $827,011.

The likes of&nbsp;<a href="/new-apartments/monarch-residences-toowong-600-coronation-drive-toowong">Monarch Residences</a>&nbsp;in <a href="/developments/toowong-qld-4066">Toowong</a>, <a href="/new-apartments/skye-residences-kangaroo-point-8-river-terrace-kangaroo-point">Skye Residences</a> in <a href="/developments/kangaroo-point-qld-4169">Kangaroo Point</a>, <a href="/new-apartments/nouveau-albion-8-16-anstey-street-albion">Nouveau</a> in <a href="/developments/albion-qld-4010">Albion</a>, and Queens Wharf Tower in <a href="/developments/brisbane-city-qld-4000">Brisbane City</a>, all secured a handful of sales, but did so at stellar prices, with the weighted average sale price between $1,645,000 and $3.67 million, a sign there's a strong market demand for premium apartments in Brisbane's inner ring.

<img alt="Brisbane Apartment Market Insights Q4 2023" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="549b2148-3fd1-47d1-a889-a59b79c962a7" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Brisbane%20Top%20Projects.jpg?VersionId=YA.3AVsIIskBXNkE36veUJiwd4UmI5Ak" />

Outside of inner Brisbane, the inner west region was the most active in terms of sales over Q4 2023 with 94 apartments sold.

Only nine apartments are available to purchase in the CBD, which makes <a href="/news/qld/first-look-meritons-full-plans-for-first-brisbane-apartment-development-revealed">Meriton's 800-apartment development</a> a game-changer for the city. Morris Property Group is also expecting to have around 180 apartments up for grabs on Eagle Terrace after they <a href="/news/qld/first-look-exclusive-2032-brisbane-olympics-has-morris-property-group-swap-eagle-terrace-office-tower-for-apartments">filed an application to change the use</a> of their commercial office tower plans to residential.

Developers who are able to get their projects in market are reaping the benefits. 

Stock levels shrink toward five-year lows in Brisbane's off the plan apartment market: Urbis Brisbane Apartment Market Insights Q4 2023

House prices cooled following the surprise rate rise by the RBA in June, but apartment growth continued, according to the latest research from Ray White.

They found the strongest apartment price increases were in <a href="/developments/brisbane-qld">Brisbane</a>, <a href="/developments/adelaide-sa">Adelaide</a> and <a href="/developments/perth-wa">Perth</a>, all increasing by in excess of 0.3 per cent over the month.

There was no capital city that recorded a decline in apartment prices over the month. All cities are now seeing big increases over the past 12 months.

Ray White Senior Economist Nerida Conisbee said there are a lot of push and pull factors in house prices at the moment.

"Interest rate rises may not be over and we are seeing more stock coming to market," Conisbee said.

<img alt="" data-bit="iit" data-entity-type="" data-entity-uuid="" height="auto" role="presentation" src="https://ci6.googleusercontent.com/proxy/KmOoOOLwIj8fYCwAXNwC0Ar6xU1fRGlJfXpATcmHyDoqqNo-aF8GFSXLKAWiTbOJjW3WNaUUMLfT8wmi6TnS73mkrQNNsrgZNwEvvjMrKosSxbsYFOy4Q5O5vdZVw8EI-DytlDnbVp9BlMHIbHLtB7C0-8QpONEB6-jcX0I1DybLiJ38jn6YQSfV=s0-d-e1-ft#https://dim.mcusercontent.com/cs/2b5f862f82ad554d08ed3d501/images/671f0f73-9ada-187f-f271-042eaca72c41.png?w=1128&amp;dpr=2" style="vertical-align: top; max-width: 100%;" tabindex="0" width="660" />

"Anecdotally, more investors are selling, driven out of the market by higher interest rates and a more difficult ownership environment in many states.

"Rental growth is also starting to slow for houses across Australia, but remains strong for apartments.

Conisbee says one positive about the growth, particularly in apartments, is that it is likely making more new projects viable.

"This will ensure greater housing supply over the next two years."

The cities with the biggest house price falls were <a href="/developments/sydney-nsw">Sydney</a>, <a href="/developments/hobart-tas-7000">Hobart</a> and <a href="/developments/adelaide-sa">Adelaide</a>, with a decline of 0.2 per cent. Brisbane fell slightly by 0.1 per cent.

Ray White’s total sales in June, $6.4 billion nationally, were on par with what they recorded in June last year.

Buyer activity has continued to increase also across the Ray White network.&nbsp;The number of people bidding at auction is now back to where we were in April 2022.

"The number of active bidders remained stable in June, rather than increasing, perhaps due to the surprise interest rate increase at the start of that month," the Ray White Now Report noted.

Ray White Senior Economist Nerida Conisbee said there are a lot of push and pull factors in house prices at the moment

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