Queensland’s coastal markets have once again outperformed the state capital, according to the Real Estate Institute of Queensland’s (REIQ) Queensland Market Monitor for December 2017.
The Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, and Noosa all finished 2017 with the strongest growth in the state, significantly outperforming Brisbane.
Gold Coast
The Gold Coast’s annual median house price grew by 7.7% to end the year at $615,000.
The city has benefitted from a strong local economy (a direct result of the major infrastructure spend ahead of the 2018 Commonwealth Games), and some suburbs have seen explosive median house and unit price growth.
Mermaid Beach is the city’s most expensive suburb for houses, with growth of 8.9%, delivering a new median house price of $1.56m.
The Main Beach unit market grew an astonishing 14.3% and is now the most expensive suburb to buy a unit in, with a median price of $720,000.
The Gold Coast’s rental market is tightening significantly, with vacancies at just 1.1%. “With significant supply still forecast to come onto the market in the next 18 months, conditions in the rental market are expected to ease in the post-Games period,” REIQ said.
Sunshine Coast and Noosa
The Sunshine Coast’s median house price grew 6.4% to end the year at $569,000, while Noosa grew 6.2% to deliver a new annual median house price of $650,000.
Antonia Mercorella, CEO of REIQ, said Noosa was an area where demand was placing great pressure on limited supply levels.
“This is an area that could do with more supply, but clearly the topography makes that challenging,” she said. “Noosa’s world-class beaches, stunning natural bushland settings and wonderful warm community are factors that are fanning the flames of buyer demand. It is inevitable that this will push up prices.”
Brisbane
The city’s property market grew a modest 2.6%, ending 2017 with a median house price of $665,000.
While growth levels in premier coast markets are stronger, Brisbane is the only market to have a $2m suburb. Teneriffe, which has about 400 houses, ended 2017 with a median house price of $2.4m. If current growth levels continue, the suburb could reach an annual median of $3m in 2019.
