Hope Island apartment prices surge amid critical undersupply of stock

The northern Gold Coast leisure-land of Hope Island has become critically undersupplied, with less than 50 new apartments currently on the market, according to latest research.According to property consultants Urbis, The North Shore precinct which includes Hope Island, is the most undersupplied market on the Gold Coast for apartment buyers.“Since the beginning of 2016, only six new apartment projects have been launched to the market across the North Shore Precinct,” said Urbis senior consultant Lynda Campbell.“This has resulted in a low level of supply with the September 2018 quarter ending with only 49 new apartments available for sale.“This is the lowest level of supply across the four Gold Coast precincts which have supply levels ranging from 277 up to 1,190 apartments,” she said.Despite the supply shortfall, population forecasts indicate demand for new homes and apartments will continue to rise.The Hope Island catchment area is expected to house an extra 35,680 people over the 20 years to 2036, or an average of 1784 new residents a year.Gold Coast company Aniko Group, headed by George Mastrocostas, has moved to fill the current void in the Hope Island market with plans to launch a major resort-style apartment project this year.Aniko Group will deliver 240 luxury apartments on an 8390sqm waterfront site at 1 Grant Avenue.The move follows last year’s successful sell-out of Aniko’s Three72 Marine development at Labrador and builds on the company’s appetite for high growth markets in south-east Queensland.“Hope Island has been very much a slow burn in terms of its maturity as an apartment market, and it’s probably only in the last few years that we’ve really seen that start to fire up,” said Mr Mastrocostas.“The area has so much going for it in terms of absolute waterfront lifestyle and key transport infrastructure, and the market is starting to respond to that, especially local buyers who know the area well.“Waterfront living is in demand across the Gold Coast and Hope Island is one of the few areas left in the city where we can deliver quality resort-style living without the big premium of coastal apartments.“Hope Island has been on our wish list for some time, so we’re excited to be bringing this project to fruition at this time. The early response we have received from the market has been very encouraging.”The Hope Island property market is benefitting from a raft of private and public investment being ploughed into the northern Gold Coast region.The recent opening of the new $65 million Hope Island Marketplace has become a key investment driver by bringing a range of amenities and new jobs to the heart of the suburb. This comes on top of the completion of the nearby $450 million Westfield Coomera.Infrastructure work planned for the area includes major upgrades to M1 exits and the $400 million expansion of the Gold Coast Marine Precinct, which is set to boost local jobs.Anika Group is poised to officially launch 1 Grant Ave soon.