Gold Coast development: Unit supply in property market at ‘critical low’ as real estate boom speeds up

The number of new units available on the Gold Coast has fallen to its lowest level in more than seven years, with new data revealing the toughest suburbs to buy into.

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THE number of new units available on the Gold Coast has fallen to its lowest level in more than seven years as pressure grows on the city’s booming property market.

Just 624 units were on the market at the end of June, the smallest number seen since early 2014, a new report reveals.

The Urbis Gold Coast apartment essentials report for the second quarter of this year shows 1192 units were sold on the Gold Coast between January and June, a 21 per cent increase on the 987 sold through the entirety of 2020.

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The amount of available units on the Gold Coast continues to shrink.

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It found 14 apartment projects sold out during the second quarter, with three of those new launches.

Urbis senior consultant Lynda Campbell said more than 450 units were sold between April and June alone.

“Supply reached a critical low across the Gold Coast at the end of June following another quarter of robust sales activity,” she said.

“This comes off the back of a record 742 sales in the March quarter. While the numbers in the latest quarter failed to match the first three months of this year, it was still the second-highest quarterly result in five years.”

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Senior Consultant Urbis, Lynda Campbell. Picture: Scott Fletcher.

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“The number of apartment projects selling out within months of launching highlights the extent of elevated buyer demand.”

The situation had led to an imbalance of supply across the Gold Coast’s key apartment precincts identified by Urbis.

The “north shore” from Runaway Bay to Hope Island, has 13.1 months supply while the “southern beaches”, from Mermaid Beach to Coolangatta, holds just 2.1 months supply.

However the supply problem may only be a short-to-medium term issue, with around

1000 new apartments expected to be launched to the market over the next six months.

The southern Gold Coast has the least amount of available supply.

Strong demand for apartments in the southern beaches zone made it the most expensive for new apartments.

Ms Campbell said this would not immediately address the shortage of available units.

“Some precincts are now in major under supply, although we are aware of a number of larger projects currently in train that may be ready to fill this gap,” she said.

“However, if demand continues at the current pace, this supply will not be enough.”

The weighted average sale price in this market surged by $141,906 to $1.3 million compared to the first quarter of this year.

The average price was lower in the central region, which runs from Labrador to Broadbeach, where it dropped by $211,201 to $1.01 million.

The report revealed 56 per cent of buyers were owner occupiers, with international investors now making up just four per cent of the market.

It also noted the lack of rental supply, currently sitting at just 0.6 per cent.

The central region is the most active precinct for buyers, with 240 sales, or more than half the total sales, recorded there.

The biggest price increase was in the north, where average paid for new apartments increased by more than 37 per cent to $779,688.

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