City-dwellers heed call of coastal life

The lure of the Gold Coast’s beaches has proved demand for coastal lifestyle locations has persevered through the pandemic.

Carly Eva-Benci and Alex Benci and their children Luca, 9, Marllo, 7, Isabella, 3, and baby Cara swapping Melbourne for the Gold Coast next month. Picture: Aaron Francis

The lure of the Gold Coast’s beaches has proved demand for coastal lifestyle locations has persevered through the pandemic.

The reopening of Queensland’s border this month energised the coastal property market in the state’s southeast but nowhere more so than the Gold Coast, with southerners fiercely competing for the limited homes available.

New data from realestate.com.au compiled for The Australian shows Surfers Paradise has been the most popular suburb in Australia and continues to lead the pack. Across the year to November the oceanfront suburb had the largest number of sales, 1079, in the country. It also is receiving the highest level of property inquiries through the site to agents.

Glitter Strip suburb Southport also populated the top 10 list for sales this year, totalling 707, and shows sustained interest into next year alongside Broadbeach.

REA chief economist Nerida Conisbee said the regional shift had emerged as a prevailing trend through the pandemic, benefiting coastal and hinterland locations.

“One of the most interesting trends we’ve seen is very, very high levels of search from Victoria into southeast Queensland,” Ms Conisbee said

“We typically see around a million searches per month from Victoria to Queensland. Since March, that’s accelerated to about 2.3 million searches per month. So there’s definitely very strong interest coming, with NSW also likely showing a similar trend.”

Carly Eva-Benci and Alex Benci are itching to switch their inner-city Melbourne home for the Gold Coast — so much so they are moving the family next month with no place to go. While they plan on buying near the water, they are struggling even to secure a rental property in the meantime.

“Now is the time. The kids aren’t as attached to the school and their friends because they have been at home,” Ms Eva-Benci said. “We just want to be by the beach. I want the kids to be in Nip­pers and I want to surf. You just can’t do that in Melbourne.

 

“The market is flat chat so we have decided in light of that we need more time. We don’t know where they are going right now but, hell or high water, we are getting on that flight.”

Agents had been busy even before borders reopened, selling properties sight unseen to southern buyers looking to relocate for lifestyle reasons. Only now are many of these people able to see their new homes or investments.

Gold Coast-based buyers agent Tony Coughran said the market was in a strong demand cycle.

“You snooze, you lose in this market,” Mr Coughran said. “There is momentum and a premium for quality.

“People around the country can resonate with Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach. They are buying sight unseen because these are areas they know and they want a piece of the action.”

Realestate.com.au data shows waterfront locations across the country are in demand, with Point Cook in outer Melbourne receiving the fourth highest level of agent inquiry. Other areas include Buderim on the Sunshine Coast.