Gold Coast property market: Creating more housing is the only way to reduce prices, planning boss reveals

Gold Coasters have been warned ramping up building efforts is the only way property prices will fall and prevent the city from becoming Australia’s Monaco. FIND OUT MORE

Deputy Mayor Mark Hammel says ramping up building efforts is the only way Gold Coast property prices will fall and make it easier for people to afford to live in the city.

The average price for new units dropped slightly in the first three months of 2025, according to new data released by property consulting firm Urbis, a drop which coincided with more affordable housing coming onto the market.

The figures have been welcomed by Mayor Tom Tate who said it was critical the Gold Coast not become Australia’s answer to Monaco and a location only for the ultra-wealthy to live.

Mr Hammel, the council’s planning committee chairman, said increasing the amount of available housing was the only way to prevent the city being rendered totally unaffordable to the average person.

Cr Mark Hammel. Picture Glenn Hampson

“We are seeing record sales of one-bedroom apartments, which clearly signals a strong demand for more affordable housing options,” he said.

“The only real way to bring prices down is to increase supply – and that means building more dwellings.

“It’s not just about apartments along our major coastal corridors – we also need more duplexes, townhouses, and other diverse housing types.

“We’ve recently seen some excellent examples of more affordable homes being delivered near our coast, where many people want to live, and I hope to see that momentum continue but we can’t stop there.

“It’s vital that we encourage infill development and new housing in all directions — north, south, east and west – across our suburbs, CBD centres, and neighbourhoods.”

The latest data released by Urbis analysed unit sales across the first quarter of 2025.

It found the weighted average sale price had fallen from $2.027m, recorded late last year, to $1.84m.

Mayor Tom Tate says the Gold Coast cannot become Australia’s Monaco. Picture Glenn Hampson

Despite this drop, Urbis director Paul Riga said unit prices were still 127 per cent above their 2020 values.

“Despite the number of apartments available for sale in the March quarter increasing, the Gold Coast is still falling short of the number of new dwellings required every year to meet our housing targets,” he said.

“The fall in the weighted average sale price in the latest quarter reflects the release of more affordable new apartments to the Gold Coast market, among them one-bedroom units that account for about a third of all sales during the quarter.

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Paul Riga

We saw a significant increase in one-bedroom products during the latest quarter, with these sales accounting for 33 per cent of the total, which is the highest level since Urbis began monitoring the new apartment market.

“One-bedroom apartment sales were driven by the launch of Maris in Southport, bringing to the market a much-needed, more affordable product, which in turn has had an overall impact on the weighted average sale price.”

The Queensland Government’s ShapingSEQ Regional Plan calls for a further 38,800 high-rise apartments to meet population growth targets across the Gold Coast by 2031.

Data by Urbis in late 2024 showed more than 50 new towers need to be built every single year for the next decade for the Gold Coast to meet those targets.

Mr Hammel said new housing would need to be created across the city rather than just on the coastal strip.

“The work we are doing on our Local Growth Management Strategy and new planning scheme has shown us that the community – especially younger residents – supports this kind of balanced, citywide approach to growth,” he said.

“We are expecting our population to grow by more than 300,000 people over the next 20 years, reaching one million residents by the mid-2040s.

“That growth must be shared across the whole city – not concentrated only along the coast – so we can drive prices down and keep the Gold Coast a liveable and affordable city for families for generations to come.”

Originally published as Gold Coast property market: Creating more housing is the only way to reduce prices, planning boss reveals