Buyers’ market: Why there’s more properties for sale on the Gold Coast

HOUSE hunters on the Gold Coast are lapping up the biggest surge in listings in five years, new data reveals.

The PropTrack Listings Report January 2023, released Thursday, showed the number of properties for sale in January was 12.6 per cent higher than a year ago, the biggest increase in choice across 12 months for the Gold Coast since 2018.

“The good news for Gold Coast buyers is that there are some signs choice is starting to improve,” said PropTrack economist and report author Angus Moore.

“Even so, while choice is improving, the total number of properties listed for sale is around 30 per cent below pre-pandemic, after a number of years of limited options and strong demand.”

The report also showed new listings increased 43.4 per cent month-on-month from December, but were still 14.4 per cent lower than 2022’s busy January.

REIQ Gold Coast zone chair Andrew Henderson said new high-rise projects and investors exiting the market were contributing to a jump in property for sale.

“People are selling to make the move into new developments,” Mr Henderson said.

“And we’re obviously still seeing investors cash out while prices are still at a reasonable high level.”

Mr Henderson said it was positive news for buyers who had “a little bit” more choice.

[TAG0]

“Obviously stock is still low and one of the biggest struggles buyers are saying is they’re looking for the perfect place and it’s not there,” he said.

“Buyers still have to make some compromises on what they purchase.

“But gone are the days when property just flew off the shelf.”

He said buyers were still inspecting property with open homes attracting solid numbers.

“Offers are quite wide and varied but we’re still seeing multiple offers,” he said.

“There’s no setting new records but there’s still competition among buyers.”

Buyers agent Oliver Dunstan, of Rose and Jones Queensland, said buyers were still struggling with stock levels, despite the surge in listings.

“Everyone was hoping and wanting levels to rise and we thought the first quarter there would be a big influx of stock but it’s been very underwhelming,” Mr Dunstan said.

“A lot of buyers are still coming to us with buyer fatigue as there’s not much stock across most price points.

“Quality properties are quite rare and that’s obviously creating competition for good stock — there’s been some strong auctions lately with buyers waiting for the right property.”

Matt Srama, of The Srama Group, said he didn’t see stock levels changing too much this year.

“I can’t see huge amounts of stock all of a sudden coming out of nowhere, the main reason being there’s a lot of uncertainty in the market from both buyers and sellers,” Mr Srama said.

“I feel sellers are holding off to see what happens with the market.”

Harcourts Coastal agent Katrina Walsh said despite a surge in listings, it was still a great time to sell on the Gold Coast.

“The good news for sellers in the current market is that there is limited supply of high quality properties and this is driving increased competition from buyers,” Ms Walsh said.

Article source: Queensland Property Investor

Did you miss our previous article…
https://www.northlakespropertymanagement.com.au/experts-reveal-the-best-bargain-suburbs-with-growth-prospects/