Affordable & Liveable Property Guide 2nd Half 2020 - Gold Coast

Overview

Median property prices in Gold Coast Metro increased by 1.5% for houses to $670,000 from 2019 to 20201 and increased by 3.4% for units to $450,000. Limited stock and high demand have been the major drivers in median price growth for houses, proving resilient throughout COVID-19. The Gold Coast Metro property market has continued to show steady price growth over the past five years, creating confidence. Resilience in median unit price growth indicates excess stock continues to be absorbed, with supply partly halted due to COVID-19.

In addition, only one Gold Coast suburb with a softening annual median house price growth had to be considered. This is a similar trend to Brisbane, which suggests that overall, despite COVID-19 conditions, there is high market resilience within South East Queensland. That said, softer annual median property price growth in the region presents opportunities for first home buyers, especially when combined with Federal and State government support grants.

Table 1 highlights top suburbs in Gold Coast Metro based on price growth and total estimated value of projects commencing in the 2nd half of 2020.

Access to Market

The dominant proportion of houses sold in Gold Coast Metro in 20201 were in the lower-middle price bracket of $500,000 to $700,000 (34.7%). Units saw high buyer activity in the premium price bracket, of $600,000 and above (26.9%). There is a high percentage of sales in the two lowest to middle price brackets in Gold Coast Metro, providing excellent opportunities for first home buyers when compared with Sydney and Melbourne.

Affordable & Liveable Suburbs

To identify affordable and liveable suburbs premiums of 53% for houses and -2% for units were added to the Queensland (QLD) average home loan, which were below those required to reach Gold Coast Metro’s median prices (62% for houses and 7% for units). This indicates that the affordable and liveable suburbs identified are below Gold Coast’s median prices, meaning that the suburbs identified within this report are more affordable for buyers.

Considering all methodology criteria (property trends, investment, affordability, development, and liveability), Tables 2 and 3 identify key suburbs that property watchers should focus on.

In September 2020, Gold Coast Metro recorded a low vacancy rate of 2.1%, below Sydney Metro (3.5%) and on-par with Brisbane Metro (2.0%). The vacancy rate in Gold Coast Metro sits well below the Real Estate Institute of Australia’s healthy benchmark of 3.0%, declining sharply post-COVID-19’s peak effects in May 2020. Gold Coast Metro’s vacancy rate has recovered to an even lower level than pre-COVID-19 (2.3% in December 2019), which is good news for investors.

In the 12 months to Q3 2020, the median house rental price was stable at $530 per week, however average days on the market declined by -30.8% (to 18 days). Overall, the Gold Coast Metro rental house market has remained resilient throughout COVID-19.

Methodology

This affordable and liveable property guide for Gold Coast Metro analyses all suburbs within a 20km radius of the Gold Coast CBD. The following criteria were considered:

Property trends criteria – all suburbs have a minimum of 20 sales transactions for statistical reliability purposes. Based on market conditions suburbs have either positive, or as close as possible to neutral price growth between 2019 to 20201.

Investment criteria – as of September 2020, suburbs considered will have an on-par or higher rental yield than Gold Coast Metro, and an on-par or lower vacancy rate.

Affordability criteria – identified affordable and liveable suburbs have a median price below a set threshold. This was determined by adding percentage premiums to the Queensland (QLD) average home loan, which was $414,426³ as of Q2 2020. Premiums of 53% for houses and -2% for units were added, which were below those required to reach Gold Coast Metro’s median prices (62% for houses and 7% for units). This places the suburbs below Gold Coast’s median prices, meaning that the suburbs identified within this report are more affordable for buyers.

Development criteria – suburbs identified must have a high total estimated value of future project development for the 2nd half of 2020, as well as a higher proportion of commercial and infrastructure projects. This ensures the suburbs show signs of sustainable economic growth, in turn positively affecting the property market.

Liveability criteria – all identified suburbs have low crime rates, availability of amenities within a 5km radius (i.e. schools, green spaces, public transport, shopping centres and health care facilities), and an unemployment rate on-par or lower in comparison to the QLD average (as determined by the Department of Jobs and Small Business, June Quarter 2020 release).