Gold Coast Bargains
While the Gold Coast property market gets only a B on its report card for sales results, the sellers are finally achieving an A+ for effort.
And Real Estate Institute of Queensland Gold Coast zone chair John Newlands is confident that the buyers are sneaking back in.
According to the REIQ September quarter report, the median house price on the Gold Coast decreased 3 per cent to $480,000 in the quarter, however the change in the year to date has been more positive than negative, up 8.5 per cent since this time in 2009.
“The Gold Coast market continues to be impacted on by the loss of construction and tourism jobs,” Mr Newlands said.
“It really has been a double-edged sword with no real construction work and the high Aussie dollar keeping tourists away.
“However sellers are starting to be much more realistic about the price they want to achieve.
“Many are realising that although the house they are selling now for $400,000 would have fetched $500,000, the house they are buying in this market for $750,000 was priced at $900,000 last year.
“At this point, though, buyers are still not acting with any great sense of urgency.
“While the market remained relatively subdued, buyers were still active in the sub-$600,000 price category.
“And in the higher price bracket we’re still getting plenty of inquiry and people through inspections but buyers are still a little more hesitant to take the next step.
“There is also movement in the top end of the market, with significant price reductions being recorded in the prestige market.”
Mr Newlands said realistic sellers were starting to dominate with those who had set their prices too high tending to take their properties off the market.
“We are also seeing more investor inquiry and that will eventually be a catalyst for more activity,” he said.
“When investors move back in, it will start the ball rolling again.”
Overall, the REIQ September quarter median house report provides an indicator that the fundamentals of Queensland’s economy are continuing to help absorb the negative impacts from the global financial crisis.
Median house prices and preliminary sales numbers across the state held relatively steady, even as the market came to grips with six almost consecutive interest rates increases.
“While it remains difficult to decipher the various indicators to understand where the economy generally is heading, these September quarter results should provide some reassurance that investing in the Queensland property market remains sound,” REIQ chairman Pamela Bennett said.
“Buyers and sellers should remain confident given Queensland’s population continues to grow by more than the national average and billions of dollars’ worth of infrastructure is being constructed or in the pipeline.
“In the years ahead, the state is also on track to benefit from our multibillion-dollar resources industry.”
REIQ managing director Dan Molloy said that of late there had been mixed messages about Australia’s residential property market.
“There has been continued speculation about a perceived housing bubble, but the facts are clear: housing prices are not out of control; comparisons with the US market are largely irrelevant; and there is little speculative activity in the market,” Mr Molloy said.
“While no one is under any illusion that the Queensland economy has turned a corner just yet, the fundamentals of the state’s economy ensure that our part of the world is well placed for growth in the years ahead.”