Renting on Gold Coast now more expensive than Sydney

New figures show the weekly average cost of renting a home on the Gold Coast is now higher than in Sydney. See the latest prices in your suburb.

WEEKLY rental costs for houses on the Gold Coast now outstrip Sydney – highlighting the severity of the city’s housing crisis.

New figures from leading investment analysis firm SQM Research show only hinterland rents, at an average of $548.40 per week, are more reasonable than those in the NSW capital, where the median rate is $704.90.

In contrast renting a house in the southern Gold Coast costs an average of $823.30 per week and in the city’s north the average cost is $763.10.

SQM figures put the overall average for the Gold Coast as a whole at $727 per week.

The cost is higher than in every Australian capital city – the Melbourne average weekly cost is $523.10 and the Brisbane median is $533.

It’s also a similar story in the units market, with the median rental cost of $562.40 per week in the Gold Coast’s south and $539.90 in the north outstripping the average costs of $469.90 and $394.80 in Sydney and Brisbane respectively.

SQM Research owner Louis Christopher said the construction sector had failed to keep pace with demand, helping to feed the “absolute boom” in Gold Coast rental costs.

“What it highlights is there has been a shortage of property on the Gold Coast,” he said.

“In the lead-up to the Commonwealth Games, while there was a little bit of a pick-up in construction, it was nowhere near the construction peaks we’ve had in previous cycles.

“That was because banks were very reluctant to lend to developers on the Coast.

“The banks kind of put the Gold Coast down as a black spot, they were risk averse to development applications on the Gold Coast by large-scale developers. And that put a lid on any construction boom on the Coast. There was a lift in construction but nowhere near the previous peaks.”

SQM Research owner Louis Christopher.

Mr Christopher the issue was compounded by a surge of interest from interstate during the Covid-19 pandemic, but said he expects the pressure to ease next year.

“There’ll have to be a slowdown sooner or later,” he said.

“People can no longer move to the Gold Coast for the affordability.

“The one thing the Gold Coast has always had is a relatively affordable housing market compared to Sydney and Melbourne.

“... We cannot say that any more. I think that will eventually put the brakes on demand towards the Gold Coast.

“The other thing we’re expecting in 2022, is assuming that Covid is largely behind us and we no longer see lockdowns, we think there’ll be a bit of a retreat from some regions, with people moving back to Sydney and Melbourne.

“The surge in people wishing to move to the Gold Coast is probably going to slow down, because the threat of lockdowns has subsided.

“So I think in 2022 we should see a cooling in rental demand and I think we’ll probably see a little bit of a cooling in demand for homes to purchase.”

The SQM Research figures come after the Gold Coast Bulletin last week revealed average rental costs across the Gold Coast have soared by 17.5% in just 12 months – almost double the national average increase of 8.9%. The city’s vacancy rate sits at 0.7%.

The data from real estate analysis firm CoreLogic showed costs just across the border in the Richmond-Tweed area were rising even faster – up 21.6% year on year.

Uniting Care Queensland spokesperson Luke Lindsay said the rising costs have led to a “sharp increase” in the number of people seeking help from the charity’s homeless services on the Gold Coast.

“What we’ve seen over the last 12 months or so is people that traditionally would never have come to our services,” he said. “... They’re unable to pay their rent, they’re unable to afford the increases.”

LAST WEEK: ASTONISHING SURGE IN COAST RENTAL COST

RENTAL prices on the Gold Coast have soared almost double the national average, skyrocketing past $730 a week for a house.

New data from property analysis firm CoreLogic show Gold Coast rental costs jumped by 17.5 per cent in the past 12 months, compared to 8.9 per cent nationally.

The figures were greeted with dismay by housing campaigners, who said finding a rental was now a “brutal survival of the fittest”.

The biggest rise was seen in houses, with average weekly rent up 18.7 per cent to $736 a week. Rental costs for units rose 15.7 per cent to $547 a week.

Costs rose even faster just across the border in the Richmond-Tweed area, where prices now almost match those on the Gold Coast.

Units there are 21.6 per cent more expensive to rent than a year ago at an average of $549 a week and houses 18.8 per cent higher at $705 a week.

CoreLogic head of research Eliza Owen told the Bulletin a flight to “lifestyle destinations” such as the Gold Coast had driven the unusually steep jump in prices.

“There is a retreat to lifestyle areas like the Gold Coast that has been seen not only in house price trends but in rental trends as well,” Ms Owen said.

“In cities like Melbourne, where lockdowns have been extended, we’ve seen an uplift in migration to regional Victoria and also to Queensland, where we’re seeing very strong rental increases on the Gold Coast.”

Ms Owen said that while the annual figures showed prices soaring, there were crumbs of comfort for renters in CoreLogic’s monthly data.

“Over the June and September quarters the average monthly increase in rent values was about 0.8 per cent,” she said.

“If you look at the March quarter the average monthly increase was 1.7 per cent. So it’s still going up, but going up at a slower rate.

Astras Prestige Property principal Oresti Astras.

The biggest jump in prices were in Clear Island Waters, where the average weekly rent for houses is up 27.8 per cent to $1042 per week and units 22.4 per cent to $608 per week.

Astras Prestige Property principal Oresti Astras said people waiting for the completion of units they bought off the plan and others who had recently sold homes but had not yet bought another property had added to the normally tight rental market.

“And then to top it all, I’ve got the interstate people as well,” he said.

“If they’re not confident enough to buy over the phone, they’re doing their two weeks’ quarantine, then they rent a property to get a feel for the suburb and before they buy.”

CoreLogic’s Head of Research Eliza Owen.

Separate figures released by the Real Estate Institute of Queensland this week also showed vacancy rates remain extremely low on the Gold Coast at 0.7 per cent.

REIQ CEO Antonio Mercorella called on the state government and council to work together to release more land for housing.

“Brisbane only has 2.9 years’ worth of approved housing lot supply while the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast each only have 1.9 years’ worth,” she said.

“We need to ensure an adequate supply of land is released for housing, particularly with an expected influx of migrants after borders reopen.”

Everybody’s Home spokesperson Kate Colvin.

The latest jump in prices was greeted by dismay by pressure group Everybody’s Home, with spokesperson Kate Colvin saying workers in prominent Gold Coast industries such as aged care and hospitality were paying between a third and half of their income on housing.

“These rent increases are eye-watering,” Ms Colvin said. “They come as many people had their income and job security smashed.

“... Housing should be a basic right in any society but especially a wealthy advanced one

like Australia. Yet these figures show that for many, getting and keeping a house is becoming a brutal survival of the fittest.”

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