By Guest Blogger, Andrew Bell, Chairman, Ray White The Surfers Paradise Group
Chairman | The Ray White Surfers Paradise Group
QLD Board Member | Real Estate Institute of Australia
In all markets throughout Australia, we see variants in price growth driven by numerous factors. Those factors include but are not limited to new and recent infrastructure developments such as roads, Light Rail, schools, hospitals etc. together with lifestyle factors such as new shopping centers, restaurants, entertainment precincts and so on.
There is a well-known fact which is “build it and they will come”. No greater example than this than transportation. Build a freeway that fast-tracks transport from one location to another and you will see a rapid change of traffic flow to the new freeways, and you will see significant development of residential dwellings on the shoulders of the freeway. Likewise with train or light rail. Put those transport hubs in and you will attract people who want to dispense with a car or certainly dispense with driving to and from work, and those people will be drawn to those transport means which requires them to live in very close proximity to the rail lines, thus seeing a boost in demand for residential properties again on the shoulders of these developments.
On the Gold Coast there are fine examples of the above. 20 years ago, the road from the Gold Coast to Brisbane was a nightmare antiquated two lane uneven road each way. When a four-lane highway was built, people laughed saying that it was a waste of money as you could see more roadways than you could see cars. Progressively over 20 years this road facilitated the ability for Gold Coasters to live on the coast and work in Brisbane, which saw a lot of Brisbane residents relocate their home to the Gold Coast. It opened up the ability for suburbs such as Coomera, Upper Coomera, Ormeau to be converted from unused rural land into thriving residential affordable homes. Adding thousands of residential properties to the Gold Coast. It would never have happened without the M1.
In more recent times the light rail between the heavy rail at Helensvale down to Broadbeach saw so many people choose to move from their existing homes to properties on the shoulder of the light rail so that they could use it. Whilst somewhat empty in the first year or two, it is now frequently standing room only and with construction of the light rail through to Burleigh Heads, it is no surprise that there has been a huge increase in property values along either side of the extended track.
With the completed upgrade of Pacific Fair Shopping Centre in 2018, we have now seen it become the shopping centre of the Gold Coast and it is no surprise that properties in surrounding areas such as Broadbeach Waters and Broadbeach itself, have seen tremendous price growth, as more and more people want the convenience of being in close proximity to Pacific Fair.
Burleigh Heads has also seen a transformation over the past 10 years, with significant growth in its entertainment precinct with fabulous cafes, restaurants and bars being extremely popular with locals. It has also attracted a huge number of people wanting to live in close proximity to all that it offers and there is no surprise there has been huge growth in property values.
A third factor that continues to emerge on the Gold Coast is employment. More and more diversity in employment is opening up where we see the Coast becoming a centre for education with three major universities and a host of high-level private schools and high-performing state schools, together with technical colleges, language schools and so on. Much of these activities have been centered in certain locations and so the demand for housing around the likes of medial research hubs, hospitals, education centres and so on, has created a new demand not seen before on the Gold Coast.
One emerging trend on the Gold Coast and elsewhere in Australia is the baby boomers reaching age brackets where they want greater security, quality lifestyle and piece of mind. This is seeing areas such as Sanctuary Cove and Hope Island with 24-hour manned security become a major attraction and increasingly, we are seeing the emergence of high-level retirement residences not akin to the old retirement villages of years gone by but of high-level buildings that look more like a private development than a retirement home.
So, pulling all of the above together, what are we seeing? We are seeing an acceleration of price growth in suburbs such as Palm Beach, Burleigh Heads, Broadbeach, Surfers Paradise, Hope Island and Sanctuary Cove. These markets have seen faster price growth than other suburbs because of those major infrastructure attractions, but increasingly other locations have come into the sights of both the Council and more importantly, developers who see the opportunity for putting similar infrastructure in other locations on the Gold Coast where land costs are lower, and more land is available.
We have seen what I described as the great migration of money. So many high wealth Australians over the past five years since the beginning of the pandemic have relocated out of other parts of Australia, particularly Melbourne and Sydney and moved to the Gold Coast, bringing enormous wealth with them. This is seeing all of the beachside locations in particular rise rapidly in value pricing out average Australian’s who have been forced into looking elsewhere for their housing needs, yet with the same desires to be close to transport, employment opportunities and lifestyle amenities.
The suburbs that have seen the benefit in recent years have been Robina, which is a major hub for shopping, transport, commercial and sporting facilities providing great employment opportunities.
But everyone asks where the next big thing is. My advice to all people is to look at suburbs that have seen enormous price growth which are probably areas that the great majority of people cannot afford, but the surrounding suburbs are the suburbs that provide opportunity. There is an overflow effect that occurs in all markets where when prices have jumped in one area that price increase flows onto surrounding areas not long after, and so suburbs inland to the light rail will see benefits occurring already and into the future.
To have one of our friendly Buyers' Advocate's contact you, click here to:
or
call us on 1300 655 615 today.
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
