Gold Coast apartment business booming as demand from interstate surges

The Gold Coast recorded almost $800m in new apartment sales in the first three months of this year.

Ocean is Meriton’s new 'super tower' in Surfers Paradise.

The Gold Coast recorded almost $800m in new apartment sales in the first three months of this year, as demand from local and interstate buyers, particularly from the southern states, surged.

Australia’s largest apartment developer, Meriton, says its Ocean tower, which is under construction on the Gold Coast, draws far more inquiries than its Sydney apartment sites.

“Sales are very strong on the Gold Coast. We have 17 sites on the market across Sydney and the Gold Coast, which gets four times the number of inquiries than any site in Sydney,” Meriton sales director James Sialepis said.

“We get 80-100 inquiries a week for Ocean (while) Sydney apartment sites average 20 inquiries a week,’’ he said, adding that much of the Gold Coast inquiries were from people in the southern states looking to escape Covid.

“Covid stimulates people to inquire … they want to buy into the Gold Coast,” Mr Sialepis said, adding that the Gold Coast had been undersupplied for some time, rents are strong and demand has picked up pace.

“My gut feel is this demand is for trophy sites on the beachfront – anyone that has a development along the beachfront. But I’m not too sure about inquiries for secondary locations, it’s the top end people want.”

Meriton’s Ocean development, which comprises 387 units, has 30 apartments left in the first release of 125 units with these units selling for an average of $900,000 each.

Ocean’s second stage release of 117 units, which will be available from next March, has just 17 units left with an average sale price of $1m. The last release of units on the upper floors of the 76-level tower containing 145 units is due for completion next July with 105 units available for sale. Of the 45 units sold the median sale price was $1.267m.

This week, Meriton settled the acquisition of another beachfront development site on the Gold Coast’s The Esplanade with plans to build 600 units.

Meanwhile, Colliers research reveals total sales for the first three months of this year on the Gold Coast were just $112m shy of combined new apartment sales across the entire 2020. The average price paid also shot past the $1m mark for a second quarter, with new apartments up more than 42 per cent in just two years.

Colliers’ Gold Coast Market Update revealed 742 new apartments sold between January and March with an average price of $1.061m each.

That compares with 987 apartments sold at an average price of $915,258 totalling $903m in 2020.

“The market performance over the first quarter was incredible, one of the best we’ve ever experienced,” said Colliers Gold Coast director residential David Higgins.

Originally published as Gold Coast apartment business booming as demand from interstate surges