Revealed: Gold Coast suburbs hardest hit by housing crisis

A startling new report has revealed the Gold Coast’s most undersupplied markets. SEE THE LIST

Less than 1 in 100 homes for sale or rent in the most undersupplied Gold Coast markets

THE extent of the Gold Coast’s housing crisis has been revealed, with fewer than one in 100 homes listed for sale in the most undersupplied suburbs where the pipeline of new housing has also failed to keep pace with population growth.

The shock report by SuburbTrends existing stock of houses for sale in the 10 worst affected local suburbs would run out in 2 months, if no new listings were added.

And the outlook for renters is just as grim, with vacancy rates less than 1 per cent in half of those suburbs, and hovering just above in the other 5.

SuburbTrends analysed inventory levels, rental vacancies, and building approvals for residential dwellings over a 5-year period from January 2018 to December 2022.

13 Sangster Cres, Pacific Pines is for sale

Building approvals over the next 5 years fell short of annual population growth of 1.72 per cent on the Gold Coast in each of these areas: Pacific Pines, Ashmore, Coombabah, Clear Island Waters, Parkwood, Merrimac, Molendinar, Robina, Varsity Lakes and Reedy Creek.

SuburbTrends director Kent Lardner said buyers and renters in those suburbs were squeezed by limited choices, with an inventory level of 2 months or less in those areas, compared with normal levels of between 4 and 5 months.

“This means if nothing else listed today we would have nothing left to purchase in 2 months,” Mr Lardner said.

“If not for increasing interest rates, this level of inventory would be creating strong upward pressure on prices.

“Without a new pipeline of supply to match population growth, it is hard to see any relief for buyers or renters in these 10 suburbs,” he said.

An acreage property with two houses on one title is a rare listing in Parkwood

Buyers and renters would be forced to look further afield to areas like Ormeau-Oxenford, where 9907 new dwellings had been approved in the last five years.

PropTrack figures show the median house price in Pacific Pines is $860,000, up 13 per cent over the last 12 months.

Just 3 blocks of vacant land in Pacific Pines were listed on realestate.com.au this week, including a 765sq m parcel on Zenith Way with an asking price of $975,000.

The listing by Professionals agent Chris Parker described the property, which offers elevated 180 degree views to the sea and city skyline, as, “possibly one of the rarest and most sought-after parcels of land on the northern Gold Coast”.

The last recorded sale of vacant land in Pacific Pines, of a 656sq m lot on Manra Way purchased for $650,000, was more than a year ago.

Across Queensland, 180,000 new homes were approved to be built in the past five years — that’s less than 9 per cent of the state’s 2 million or so dwellings.

A five-bedroom home in Ashmore will go under the hammer this month

“With the amount of builders going bust, it’s likely completion rates will be significantly lower than what the approvals show,” Mr Lardner said.

The SuburbTrends data found rental tenure of about 30 per cent in Gold Coast suburbs with more than 1000 dwellings, meaning 1 in 3 newly built properties was likely to enter the rental market.

Ray White chief economist Nerida Conisbee said continued tight supply and strong migration had shielded the Gold Coast from more dramatic price dips as seen in other markets on the back of rising interest rates.

“Population pressure is a big factor,” Ms Conisbee said.

“With so many people still migrating to the Gold Coast, demand for housing is still high.

“There is also limited land supply on the Gold Coast, which always helps keep a market strong.”

Latest building approvals data for January released by the Bureau of Statistics shows approvals slumped to a decade low as rising interest rates and soaring construction costs force buyers out of the market.

Queensland was the only state to see an exception, with new apartment builds driving a 26 per cent rise in approvals.

25 Martinique Way, Clear Island Waters is for sale for $3.3m

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BIS Oxford Economics senior economist Maree Kilroy said financing a home build had become tougher, impacted by higher borrowing costs and a near 30 per cent run-up in construction costs since the start of the pandemic.

Ms Kilroy said the near-term outlook for housing construction had progressively worsened in recent months.

“While there are signs that labour and material supply issues are fading in some areas and that construction cost growth has slowed for houses, both of these challenges will persist for builders over 2023 given how big the backlog of work has become,” she said.

Gold Coast property is tightly held

GOLD COAST MOST UNDERSUPPLIED MARKETS

Pacific Pines

Ashmore

Coombabah

Clear Island Waters

Parkwood

Merrimac

Highland Park

Nerang

Arundel

Gaven

Originally published as Revealed: Gold Coast suburbs hardest hit by housing crisis