The Gold Coast is renowned for its multimillion-dollar towers with hundreds of luxury apartments but there has been a shift towards smaller projects in recent years.
BUYERS have more choice than ever when it comes to apartments on the Gold Coast, with a fresh trend helping the market shed its “boom and bust” reputation.
Renowned for multimillion-dollar luxury apartment towers, recent years have seen a shift towards smaller boutique projects on the Gold Coast that property experts believed would help solidify the market.
Knight Frank head of project marketing Chris Litfin said smaller developments had led to more stability
“This means there won’t be a huge increase in supply, and with the steady increase in population on the Gold Coast and the ever-increasing downsizer demand from retirees, the result is a very stable property environment,” he said.
“The Gold Coast apartment market had a boom and bust reputation particularly when it had a low population base as the market generally relied on tourism and apartments were discretionary assets.
“But now that is certainly not the case.”
He said retirees wanting to downsize and enjoy a maintenance-free lifestyle closer to cafes, restaurants, shops and the beach were driving demand.
“The older population on the Gold Coast is growing significantly, which is only going to add to the demand for apartments,” he said.
“(Years ago) 60 used to be old, 60 is now middle age so people reaching retirement want to do stuff.”
Urbis senior consultant Lynda Campbell echoed Mr Litfin’s comments, explaining retirees often preferred the smaller developments.
“The population is ageing so there’s a lot of downsizers and they want to live in boutique apartments,” she said.
The latest Urbis Gold Coast Apartment Essentials report shows the city recorded more than 550 new apartment sales in the first half of this year — up from 449 in the same period last year.
During the period, 21 new projects were launched to the market with 2554 apartments, six of which sold out.
“It’s owner occupiers that have dominated the sales figures,” Mrs Campbell said.
She said developers were starting to incorporate extra features into new developments, including surf board and bike storage areas, yoga rooms and shared residential dining areas, to appeal to owner occupiers.
“I think the projects that are coming to the market now are meeting the demands of the buyers in the market,” she said.
“There’s a lot more thought and research going into the projects.”