Gold Coast apartment prices hit record highs among stifling supply

The average sale price of new apartments on the Gold Coast hit a new high in the June quarter as supply continues to tighten across the city in tandem with a drop in new project launches and a spike in sales that has slashed six months off the city’s available supply of stock.

The latest research from Urbis shows that while there are some pockets of supply in the Gold Coast Central precinct from Southport to Broadbeach, the weighted average sale price for new apartments edged to a record high of $1.77 million in the quarter, up from $1.73 million in the March quarter.

The average apartment price is now up 56 per cent, or $638,000, in just nine months from the $1.13 million average in the September quarter last year.

The latest Gold Coast and Brisbane New Apartment Essentials Summary for Q2 2024 also revealed Brisbane’s apartment market is facing similar supply challenges which have led to a new price record for the Queensland capital where the weighted average apartment price hit $2.083 million – up from $1.91 million in the March quarter.

“Both cities are critically undersupplied,” says Lynda Campbell, senior consultant at Urbis.

“The June quarter recorded a sharp increase in the number of sales compared with the first quarter of the year. 

"Based on the June quarter sales momentum, this means the Gold Coast currently has just 12 months’ supply of new apartments which is down from less than 18 months in the March quarter.

“While that doesn’t take into account new supply coming into the market over the next year, it does provide some perspective on why we have seen record prices every quarter since September last year.”

The Gold Coast recorded 331 new apartment sales in the June quarter, up sharply from 240 sales in the previous quarter, leaving 1,321 apartments for sale.

“Our research clearly shows that total available stock continues to decrease at a time when demand remains elevated,” said Lynda.

“Most of the sales during the June quarter were made in the Gold Coast Central precinct which accounted for 295 sales. 

"However, just four projects in that precinct currently represent around 62% of all the available supply on the Gold Coast which highlights the low number of new projects that are coming onto the market.”

The top-selling projects on the Gold Coast over the March quarter comprised Iris Capital’s Victoria & Albert at Broadbeach, Robert Badalotti’s $650 million Monarch Place in the Imperial Square development at Southport and MRCB’s 26 Vista in Surfers Paradise.

These three projects delivered a total of 164 sales, or almost half of total Gold Coast sales for the June quarter. At the end of June, they had just 606 apartments remaining for sale.

Monarch Place has the lowest average sale price of any of the Gold Coast’s top five apartment projects by volume for the quarter, at $1.317 million, reflecting strong demand for relatively affordable product in the Southport CBD.

The inner-Brisbane market monitored by Urbis shares similar supply challenges to the Gold Coast, says Urbis director Paul Riga.

“The level of available stock has fallen to its lowest level since Urbis began monitoring the market in 2014,” Paul said.

“Sales have fallen accordingly due to the sharp drop in developments being brought to market, leading to another increase in the weighted average price for the June quarter.”

Brisbane recorded 53 new apartment sales in the June quarter, leaving just 318 apartments for sale.

The city’s Inner East Precinct accounted for 26 sales, or almost half of those recorded for the period. With 189 new apartments remaining for sale, 80% of which are in one project launched last year, this precinct accounts for most of the new apartments available in the inner-city area monitored by Urbis.

But while the sales volume is marginally higher than the March quarter, the lack of available stock has seen the first two quarters of 2024 deliver the lowest sales of any quarter.

The sales compare with a peak of 2,277 apartments sold in the June quarter of 2015 and a more recent peak of 1,005 during June quarter 2022 and almost a third of the 167 apartments sold in the second quarter of last year.

“The shortage of new apartments coming onto the market, coupled with continued demand, are among the key drivers of price growth in Brisbane’s inner-city apartment market over the latest quarter,” said Paul.

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