Coast enters new era of development

A raft of new residential projects has signalled the start of a new development cycle for the Gold Coast, according to project marketing figure Julian Sutherland.The director of Ray White Projects Gold Coast said the cycle was underpinned by strong fundamentals but shielded from oversupply issues by heightened financial conservatism and the burgeoning Asian market.Mr Sutherland said the city’s population growth projections, hosting of the 2018 Commonwealth Games and the retirement of the baby boomer generation was fuelling a new wave of apartment projects across the Coast.They include: Morris Property Group’s 33-level 18 Remembrance Drive tower in Surfers Paradise, Citimark’s 48-storey Markwell Avenue project, Spice on Broadbeach, Dankav’s Lanikai on Brighton and Oceans Apartments, both at Southport, and 8 on Norman, also at Southport.Above: Dankav's Lanikai on Brighton A further five development sites are undergoing buyer due diligence through Ray White Projects Gold Coast, part of the Ray White Surfers Paradise Group.Mr Sutherland said new projects were coming to the market at a time when the existing stock of new apartments was drying up with only a few high priced apartments remaining in Oracle at Broadbeach.“Fast diminishing supply means there quite a bit of pent-up demand underlined by positive population growth projections for the city,” he said.“As a result we’re seeing projects coming to the market that are geared to residential use rather than for tourism purposes.”Above: Julian Sutherland Mr Sutherland said the city was also benefiting from an influx of infrastructure spending in preparation for the Commonwealth Games, creating new jobs and increasing demand for housing.“It coincides with the baby boomer generation entering retirement and changing their housing needs,” he said.“They are gravitating toward new apartments as part of their downsizing phase, and they tend to stay or be drawn to the Gold Coast because of its lifestyle appeal.”Mr Sutherland said the next development phase had the hallmarks of greater restraint and conservatism lessening the risk of oversupply.“The apartments and the projects are overwhelmingly smaller and less grandiose than previous cycles where we saw super high-rise product,” he said.“What we are seeing now is mostly between 50 and 200 apartments per building.“Banks are also more risk averse, generally requiring pre sales of 50 per cent before the construction phase can start.“This time we also have the Asian market in play, which complements local buyers in absorbing new stock.”