There has been a lot of talk in property circles and the media around the expected growth for the Queensland economy, local Gold Coast businesses and indeed property prices in the lead up to the 2018 Commonwealth Games. However, there is much more than just the games working to drive the prices up.
Australia has an ageing population. This figure is increasing exponentially each year. Combine this with the growing numbers of retirees that are moving north for the warmer weather, and you have a recipe for property demand. Major centres such as the Gold Coast are booming with new infrastructure and healthcare facility upgrades to help cater for this migration of retirees.
An article in this week’s Australian Financial Review states:
“The healthcare precinct at Robina, currently anchored by the Robina Hospital and Queensland Health’s Robina Health Precinct, is a premium, emerging location on the Gold Coast for health related investment,” said Chris Smith, Australian Unity’s head of healthcare property.
“As the demand for healthcare services increases in line with Australia’s rapidly ageing population we have prioritised expanding, improving and upgrading the HPT’s existing hospitals and medical centres to meet this demand,” he said
Earlier this month, the Gold Coast Bulletin spoke about the suburb of Palm Beach as experiencing some amazing demand from local and interstate buyers. PALM Beach is leading the Gold Coast as a property hotspot, with homes selling in just 48 hours. According to CoreLogic, the mid-Coast beachside suburb is the fastest selling in the city. The shortest was Jeremy and Lauren Beresford’s which was snapped up hours after it went on the market.
“We expected it to be for sale for at least two weeks but it sold on the first open home which was the same weekend we put it on the market,” Mr Beresford said.
“There was a bidder from Sydney who put down a very handsome price but the person who ended up buying it outdid all the bidders. “My wife and I didn’t even get a chance to advertise it online as a listing.”
“To get an idea of the area’s popularity, the median house price has increased in the past year by 13.8 per cent,” Ms Dean said.
Ms Dean said there was a waiting list for people looking to live in Palm Beach. Another factor that the Gold Coast is under the spotlight is the low growth rate of house values in a lot of suburbs over the last decade. Numerous suburbs including Southport, Arundel and Merrimac have had less than 3% growth per annum since 2008. An area of interest is the suburb of Maudsland. Situated 20 minutes north-west of Broadbeach, with a median house price of just $485,000 and little to no growth since 2008, this area shows huge potential for quality investing. With the Brisbane markets already in full swing and limited land supply throughout the Brisbane to Gold Coast corridor, we see some great value in the right product in this suburb. The added bonus for suburbs such as Maudsland is that you can find yourself deals with over 5% rental yield, which is a positive outcome compared to the Sydney and Melbourne markets which are hovering around 3% yield.
As you can see apart from the $200 million that is being spent on improving the Gold Coast for the upcoming Commonwealth Games, the fundamentals are in place for great demand over the coming years in the Gold Coast region. And as a sidenote, no mention was made of ‘Units or Apartments’, let’s leave those to the overseas buyers.
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