The Gold Coast property trend that adds thousands of dollars in value without spending a single cent

What’s in a name? A whole lot of money according to this property trend sweeping Gold Coast suburbs. See how your home could be worth a whole whack more.

What looks like Elanora, feels like Elanora but sells for a lot more than Elanora?

It’s Palm Beach Heights.

Where exactly is this lucrative secret suburb, I hear you ask? It’s Elanora.

That’s right, it seems that upselling your suburb is the new property trend that’s adding thousands of dollars in value ... without spending a single cent.

WHY AREN’T WE DOING MORE TO PROTECT OUR TENANTS?

Palm Beach Heights – where is this new suburb and how can I buy a home there?

While Palm Beach Heights is the name of an actual development estate within Elanora, it’s now being used as a prime piece of property marketing all across the suburb.

And it’s not alone.

In fact, the Gold Coast has a long history of upselling certain suburban segments … looking at you, Chirn Park.

Although, given Labrador’s street name is Stabrador, it’s perhaps understandable.

Hey, I get it. According to the “for sale” sign across the street from me, we live in Nobby Beach … not Mermaid Waters.

Not that there’s anything wrong with Mermaid Waters … it’s just that by naming it Nobbys, my neighbour can reap the rewards of this property hack.

It’s why some citizens of Bundall call it Sorrento and why parts of Paradise Point prefer Sovereign Islands. Yes, these are actual estates – but they’re not actual addresses.

Even Surfers Paradise itself used to be Elston.

Surfers Paradise does sound a lot sexier, and far more marketable than Elston. Ew. Elston.

It works the other way, as well.

Search realestate.com.au and even though Studio Village is offered as an option, you won’t find a single sales listing under that name – but plenty of homes in that exact area are listed as plain old Oxenford.

It’s clear that we have now solved the age-old question as to what’s in a name … and the answer is dollars.

So I’d like to propose some new money-making monikers for sections of this city where there is a real opportunity to cash in on wealthy neighbouring names.

Let’s start with Reedy Creek.

Located behind Varsity Lakes, it’s bordered by the M1 and, while home to some prestigious private schools, has never quite had the price tag to match.

Imagine house much the same house (11 Coronata Pl, Reedy Creek) would cost at the brand new suburb, Burleigh Creek!

So let’s rebadge it as Burleigh Creek.

After all, technically, part of it is just west of the booming beachside suburb of Burleigh Heads – and it does have a creek running through it. One little word change and, boom, there’s an extra $100,000 on every house in today’s property market.

MOST RECENT GOLD COAST AUCTION AND SALE RESULTS

And what about Coombabah? It neighbours some of the wealthiest island enclaves in the city, so why not embrace that proximity to privilege and relaunch as Sovereign Islands South? Sure, it’s not an actual island ... but Sovereign Swamp doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.

Look, this trend of upselling suburbs is a little nauseating, but at least it makes a welcome change from our tradition of rubbishing other residential localities.

I’ve already mentioned Stabrador, but there’s also Trashmore (Ashmore), and even Weed Heads (Tweed Heads).

Residents of Nerang have long been dubbed Nerangatangs, while the strong Broadwater winds of Runaway Bay once saw it dubbed Blowaway Bay.

Meanwhile, back when our canal estates were first being developed, legend has it that the Isle of Capri was spitefully tagged the Pile of Debris (because the island level was raised allegedly using landfill).

My personal favourite has to be Main Beach.

While many have tagged it Vain Beach, due to a strong demographic of the wealthy and image-conscious, the booming Boomer population has seen it christened as Dun Rootin – because apparently the suburb’s only erections are its high-rise buildings.

Then there’s Mudgeeraba. While the name is a little tricky to say and difficult to spell, its meaning makes that trouble well worth the while.

According to Queensland Parliamentary Papers from 1913, the meaning of this indigenous word is, in fact, “place of infant’s excrement”.

Now that fact is worth a million dollars alone.