Gold Coast’s most popular suburb to live in revealed

A new report has revealed the Gold Coast’s most popular suburbs to live in for interstate migrants as the housing market gets tighter.

SURFERS Paradise is the most popular suburb for interstate property buyers, according to a new report by market analysts RPM.

The Glitter Strip, home to some of the Gold Coast’s best-known supertowers and its world-famous beach, are among four Gold Coast suburbs in the top 10 for buyers moving over the border to southeast Queensland.

Interstate buyers snapped up 468 Surfers Paradise residential properties in 2022 compared to 218 in Broadbeach. That was followed by 173 at Southport and 149 in Pimpama.

Property consultancy RPM Group’s Queensland managing director Clinton Trezise said the data underlined the demand for Gold Coast property in an increasingly tight market.

Surfers Paradise Hi Rise buildings, part of the Gold Coast Skyline. Picture Glenn Hampson.

“The data shows the unprecedented pressure facing the Gold Coast property market, led by the record interstate migration,” he said.

“Interstate buyers accounted for a significant number of dwelling purchases during the year, and this has been accompanied by a significant fall in available rentals across the city during the year.”

Falling land values and rising interest rates have slowed the property market from the highs of the Covid boom while mortgage stress levels have climbed.

The city’s median house price has fallen to $925,000, down 1.5 per cent or $15,000 from the $940,000 at the height of the market in June 2022. This compares to the 8.4 per cent decline recorded nationally between May and January this year by CoreLogic’s national Daily Home Value Index.

RPM Group Queensland managing director Clinton Trezise

The RPM report found:

* Property buyers are having to wait 208 days to settle on properties, more than three times longer than they were in 2020 and double that of 2021 figures.

* There are more than 40,000 dwellings under construction across the state

* There were 17,583 lot registrations were recorded during the 2022 calendar year across southeast Queensland, down from the market peak of peak of 31,545 in 2017.

* Southeast Queensland will struggle to build the required 30,640 dwellings a year needed to match the growing population.

Mr Trezise said the Gold Coast particularly was struggling against population growth, with more than 15,000 people arriving annually.

“Despite record construction activity across the state, southeast Queensland is failing to keep up with demand for residential lots,” he said

“This is due to the combined impact of sustained demand, material shortages and labour constraints. However, among the key issues is a shortage of development sites coming to the market in high demand areas.

“Amid the ongoing capacity constraints, there is clearly a need for statutory bodies to release more land to ease the pressure on buyers.

“The solution also rests with making provisions to fast-track developments in areas that are deemed suitable for residential dwellings within the urban footprint.”

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