Gold Coast real estate industry entering a fascinating new era

Gold Coast real estate industryheavyweight Andrew Bell says the Gold Coast is entering a ‘fascinating’ new eradriven by southern buyers wanting to pack up and move to Queensland in the wakeof the Covid pandemic.

Mr Bell, who heads Queensland’s largestreal estate agency, the Ray White Surfers Paradise Group, sold nine propertieslast weekend – most of which were sold sight unseen, or through virtualinspections – to people from NSW, Victoria and the ACT.

“Since a second phase of Covid hasaccelerated in the last few weeks we have seen a dramatic increase in thenumber of buyers purchasing here from southern states,” said Mr Bell.

“Generally these people are aged 60 plus,they see Queensland as a safer place to be, and have said to themselves ‘Why amI living here, I’m moving to Queensland’. It’s as simple as that.

“We are finding that people who are now reassessingtheir lives and choosing to move to Queensland is something that’s driving thecurrent strong activity seen in the market.”

In another sign of strength in the Gold Coast’s property market, in latest RWSP Group auctions, held yesterday (July 30), nine of the 12 properties auctioned sold on auction day to local and interstate buyers.

“The current Covid climate is certainlyhaving a fascinating knock-on effect for the Gold Coast property market,” saidMr Bell.

“As buyers are now spending more time athome and less time travelling, they are wanting to find properties that bettersuit their current lifestyle and living arrangements.

“There was a wide range of properties soldin yesterday’s auction including apartments and units that people want toreside in as part of a downsizer or retirement strategy.

The propertiessold under the hammer included apartments in Surfers Paradise, units in HopeIsland and family homes in Southport and Ashmore.

Thelatest trend of southerners choosing to move to Queensland follows the releaseof recent data from online property site Hotspotting’s ‘Winter 2020 Survey’,which revealed there were 54 growth regions across Queensland.

TheGold Coast witnessed the greatest growth of all regions with 10 suburbswitnessing rising sales activity – more than all the other growth areas acrossthe state.

Mr Bellsaid Ray White Surfers Paradise Group are now seeing an increase in the volumeof stock coming on the market for sale, with listings up 30 per cent this monthcompared to other months this year.