Gold Coast suburbs where house prices soar
HOMEBUYERS chasing southern comfort and dual living properties on the Gold Coast drive up prices.
Gold Coast
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HOMEBUYERS are discovering southern Gold Coast suburbs in droves — pushing house prices in areas such as Tallebudgera and Coolangatta to record levels.
The strength of the southern market has seen the number of its suburbs in the top 25 for price growth rise from four in 2014-15 to seven.
Tallebudgera was one of the biggest improvers over the past year, moving 49 places up the list with a massive 19.1 per cent jump in the median sale price for houses in the area.
Ten years ago the median sale price was $530,000, compared to $810,000 today.
Tallebudgera real estate specialist Kylie Wardrop, of McGrath Palm Beach, said interstate buyers, young families and people looking for dual-living properties were fuelling the increase in demand.
“A lot of my sales have been to Sydney buyers,” Ms Wardrop said.
“They sell for a premium back home and are able to buy a beautiful property here.
“There are also young families who have outgrown their suburban homes and want to raise their kids on a bit of land.
“Dual living properties are also popular with extended families.”
Ms Wardrop said the lure of Tallebudgera for buyers was the acreage properties close to quality schools and the beach.
“People buy there because they are looking for space and it is only 10 minutes to the beach,” she said.
“There is easy access to the M1 motorway as well.”
She said despite strong growth, the peak of the market had not been reached and she predicted further growth.
“But I don’t think we’ll see growth of another 19 per cent,” she said.
The other southern suburbs to make the top 25 were Coolangatta (up 16.3 per cent), Palm Beach (up 13.9 per cent), Burleigh Waters (up 13.6 per cent), Burleigh Heads (up 11.4 per cent), Currumbin Waters (up 10.6 per cent) and Miami (up 10 per cent).
REIQ Gold Coast zone chairman John Newlands said some southern suburbs were shaking off a poor reputation and experiencing gentrification as wealthier residents moved in and displaced people from lower-income groups.
“I think suburbs such as Miami have become popular with people who previously would not have gone there,” he said.
“They have come into their own with new restaurants and markets opening, which has also made them more attractive.”
Developers have cottoned on to the trend as well, with Sunland launching a $62 million development, Magnoli Residences, in Palm Beach.
Mr Newlands said another reason for the popularity of southern suburbs was their affordability relative to other beachside areas such as Mermaid Beach, where the median has hit $1.21 million.
How your suburb rates
Suburb/median sale price/percentage increase
1) Mermaid Beach $1.21 million 25.5%
2) Willow Vale $777,500 21.5%
3) Tallebudgera $810,000 19.1%
4) Clear Island Waters $1 million 19%
5) Guanaba $810,000 18.1%
6) Hope Island $620,000 17.5%
7) Coolangatta $756,000 16.3%
8) Tallai $769,000 16.3%
9) Coomera $446,000 15.8%
10) Bundall $920,000 15.7%
11) Gilston $559,500 14.4%
12) Southport $536,000 14%
13) Palm Beach $675,000 13.9%
14) Burleigh Waters $687,500 13.6%
15) Helensvale $565,000 11.9%
16) Burleigh Heads $685,000 11.4%
17) Clagiraba $700,000 11.1%
18) Currumbin Waters $575,000 10.6%
19) Reedy Creek $707,500 10.5%
20) Biggera Waters $660,000 10%
21) Miami $645,000 10%
22) Runaway Bay $930,000 9.9%
23) Mermaid Waters $760,000 9.2%
24) Highland Park $475,000 9.2%
25) Ormeau Hills $487,000 8.3%
26) Merrimac $470,000 8%
27) Robina $615,000 7.9%
28) Tugun $522,000 7.6%
29) Varsity Lakes $551,000 7.6%
30) Elanora $575,000 7.5%
31) Bonogin $670,000 7.2%
32) Nerang $417,500 7.1%
33) Labrador $480,000 6.9%
34) Arundel $528,750 6.8%
35) Carrara $495,000 6.2%
36) Paradise Point $900,000 6.2%
37) Worongary $540,000 5.9%
38) Oxenford $473,250 5.9%
39) Coombabah $445,000 5.5%
40) Mount Nathan $675,000 5.5%
41) Parkwood $541,250 5.4%
42) Springbrook $365,000 5.2%
43) Upper Coomera $439,750 4.7%
44) Pacific Pines $485,000 4.2%
45) Gaven $632,500 3.7%
46) Ashmore $515,000 3%
47) Molendinar $557,500 2.8%
48) Benowa $770,000 2.7%
49) Pimpama $445,000 2.4%
50) Jacobs Well $416,250 2.3%
51) Lower Beechmont $387,500 2%
52) Mudgeeraba $529,000 1.7%
53) Ormeau $450,000 1.5%
54) Broadbeach Waters $853,000 1.4%
55) Tallebudgera Valley $750,000 0%
56) Yatala $700,000 -0.7%
57) Maudsland $488,500 -1.3%
58) Currumbin Valley $830,000 -1.6%
59) Hollywell $592,500 -2.1%
60) Surfers Paradise $1.17 million -2.5%
61) Wongawallan $628,000 -5.6%
62) Bilinga $518,500 -7.6%
63) Currumbin $780,000 -15.2%
Source: CoreLogic RP Data, 12 months to February, 2016
NB: The following suburbs were not included as the number of house sales was too few to give a statistically valid median sale price: Main Beach, Broadbeach, Advancetown, Natural Bridge, Numinbah Valley, Austinville, Alberton, Cedar Creek, Luscombe, Steiglitz, Woongoolba, Kingsholme, Norwell, Neranwood
Family’s living the dream at Mermaid Beach
THEY say you can’t put a price on lifestyle but realtor Dane Atherton doesn’t believe it.
The Harcourts Coastal principal paid $1.88 million for the Gold Coast lifestyle he and his family had dreamt about.
The father-of-three snapped up a Seabeach Ave, Mermaid Beach home, which is just 100 metres from the beach, three hours after it was put on the market in December.
That was a 17 per cent increase on the price from when the four-bedroom Bayden Goddard Design home was last sold in 2013.
“The home is stunning but the location and community has blown us away,” Mr Atherton said.
“The community is extremely tight-knit.
“Our quality of life and lifestyle improved.”
Mr Atherton said while he and his wife Kym had lived in Miami on the western side of the Gold Coast Highway, they had always wanted to live east of the arterial road.
Mr Atherton said being so close to the beach meant he was more motivated to go for a surf after his morning jog.
As an agent Mr Atherton speaks to a lot of people wanting to buy the Gold Coast lifestyle and Mermaid Beach was the most popular request.
“Mermaid Beach is a unique residential housing enclave, close to the beach and highway,” he said.
He said even the most sought-after suburbs like Burleigh did not have the high-housing concentration near to the beach.
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