Gold Coast property: Crane numbers set to fall as number of units being built dives

The record number of cranes in the Gold Coast sky are set to begin falling unless something drastic changes in the city’s development sector. FIND OUT MORE

The record number of cranes in the Gold Coast sky are set to begin falling unless billions of dollars worth of projects are urgently unlocked.

Unit sales are slowing and fewer projects have launched to the market in the past year, according to new data to be released on Monday by property consulting firm Urbis.

Industry figures are now urging developers who have already secured approvals to work closely with the Gold Coast City Council to ensure their projects are feasible and progress to the construction phase to prevent a “crane drain” in the city.

The quarterly Urbis report reveals that while there are thousands of apartments due to be completed this year, they will make little impact on the stretched housing market, having already been sold years earlier when the towers were approved.

Cranes at Main Beach, Gold Coast. Picture: Glenn Campbell

“Construction costs, labour issues and economic conditions contributed to fewer apartments launching to the market and construction being pushed out on several projects,” said report author Lynda Campbell.

“While a higher number of projects launched in 2024 than 2023 they contained fewer apartments overall.

“Ten of the new projects launched during 2024 contained fewer than 50 apartments each, continuing the trend of smaller scale, boutique projects dominating both project launches and, in turn, sales throughout 2024.”

Ms Campbell said many of the units which are due for completion had been sold when the projects were first pitched several years ago, while the number of projects expected to be brought to the market in the coming year set to be lower than those which are being completed.

“If this does not easy up there will be even less supply coming on the market and unless things change, there will be fewer and fewer cranes going up.”

Lynda Campbell. Picture by Scott Fletcher

According to the report:

• Gold Coast units are far more expensive than they were in 2020, with the weighted average sale now 175 per cent higher. It currently sits at $2.024m, up from $737,711

• There were 20 new projects launched in 2024, up from 16 in 2023, with 1519 units going on the market, down from 1823 the previous year.

• More than 80 per cent of sales in the final three months of the year were above $1m, with only five, or less than one per cent, below $600,000.

• The bulk of the sales occurred in Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach.

The latest crane index shows the Gold Coast has a record high of 62 cranes on the skyline, a figure which remained steady through 2024.

Ms Campbell said all areas outside the central precinct showed signs of “under-supply”, particularly the south.

However, she noted a Palm Beach property had the highest sale price of the entire city, with a unit selling for $3.029m.

Palm Beach saw the highest sale.

“While construction costs and labour availability issues will continue, there are green shoots in that we are seeing projects with a more diverse range of product coming to the market,” she said.

“Developer activity is being seen on projects that were previously challenged by lack of delivery options and now there is an opportunity to review these projects.

“Looking at 2025, project completions which were pushed out from 2024 will result in around 2200 apartments completing this year, and a further increase in 2026 to around 2500 apartments, all under construction.

“However, in the short to medium-term the Gold Coast will still be a supply-challenged

market.”

The Gold Coast City Council is looking at ways to reactivate many of the city’s so-called ‘bomb sites” – land which were planned for developments which were approved but did not proceed.

Mayor Tom Tate has proposed a “use it or lose it” policy to prevent “land banking” while it was revealed in February that several developers had already gone back to the drawing board on hundreds of Gold Coast towers approved in the past decade – with many expected to get substantially taller to make them feasible.

Industry insiders said designs are already being tinkered with to become taller and denser as developers stung by high costs struggle to turn a profit despite insatiable demand.

Master Builders Gold Coast regional manager Adam Profke

Master Builders Queensland Gold Coast boss Adam Profke said the housing market was “in a weird place”.

“Once the city runs out of urban in-fill sites, we will be stranded, which means we need to go up, because there will be nowhere to go out to,” he said.

“It is hard with these growing pains as a city because you cannot put out a shingle saying ‘we’re full’, so it means people will have to live further away from where they work.

“It is forcing developers to go back and review those projects and work with council to get those rejects to be profitable and that should be encouraged.

“We want to keep tradies off the M1 and working here.”

City planning boss Cr Mark Hammel said a large number of the towers which had been greenlit by the council in the late 2010s and during the pandemic would face alterations thanks to the dramatic changes to the economy and building sector.

“Developers are now actively engaging with builders for detailed costings and this is a positive, as it ultimately means more construction and more roofs over heads sooner. This is critical during a housing crisis and as we approach an expected one million residents living on the Gold Coast by the mid-2040s,” Mr Hammel said at the time.

Originally published as Gold Coast property: Crane numbers set to fall as number of units being built dives