Buyrite Steel in Burleigh Heads on Gold Coast reports 40pc spike in trade following Federal Election

A Gold Coast construction company is steeled for a wave of demand from the luxury housing sector, reporting a 40 per cent increase in activity since May.

Buyrite Steel QLD’s Ben O’Bryan is finding plenty of work in the luxury market around The Sovereign Islands and Hope Island. Picture: TERTIUS PACKARD

A GOLD Coast construction company is steeled for a wave of demand from the luxury housing sector, reporting a 40 per cent increase in activity since May.

Buyrite Steel QLD managing director Ben O’Bryan said income derived from luxury housing projects normally sat at 20 cent but had recently doubled to 40 per cent.

He said reinforcing steel prices were also 25 per cent higher than 12 months ago.

“There is still a lot of work in that luxury market around The Sovereign Islands and Hope Island,” Mr O’Bryan said.

Building of luxury housing in communities such as The Sovereign Islands (pictured) is going strong. Picture Mike Batterham

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“We have done a big push on that market over the past six to 12 months and the feedback from builders is there is a lot more to come.”

He said the strength of the luxury housing sector was in stark contrast to soft conditions in the mid market for product such as house and land packages.

Mr O’Bryan’s father Dinny O’Bryan founded Buyrite Steel three decades ago in Sydney, opening the Burleigh Heads production facility in 2000, before cutting ties with his hometown 16 years later to become Gold Coast-based.

It supplies reinforcing steel to commercial and residential projects and counts specialist luxury home builders, commercial and industrial developers and the Gold Coast City Council as customers.

Steel prices have shot up in the wake of a booming in construction of luxury housing.

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Mr O’Bryan said there was a lull in the construction sector in the first part of the year, however that changed after the Federal Election.

“We had a 40 per cent jump from April to May, which continued into June, and I can see that continuing for the next few months, if not longer,” he said.

“Home builders had customers waiting until after the election before they pushed the button on construction projects and, currently, we’re in the midst of a major catch-up phase.”

He said as well as luxury home projects, including a three-storey project on Millionaires’ Row, otherwise known as Hedges Ave, Mermaid Beach, steel is also in demand for commercial projects.

Mr O’Bryan has supplied steel to an industrial warehouse project on Township Dve, Burleigh Heads.

Buyrite QLD plans to expand into a purpose-built production facility at Yatala early next year to complement its existing manufacturing base at Burleigh and meet the surge in demand.

Mr O’Bryan said as a ­second-tier steel supplier, the company was able to service demand which tier one companies, preoccupied with major construction projects, such as the Kingsford Smith Dve upgrade in Brisbane, were unable to meet.

“This comes at a time when the residential market in southeast Queensland also needs the capacity to ensure a reliable supply of reinforcing steel,” Mr O’Bryan said.

“We’re finding confidence in southeast Queensland is much higher than the rest of the country. That’s because we’ve been somewhat insulated from other markets due to the strength of interstate migration supporting residential growth.”