GC Property Market Predictions For 2023: Boom or Bust?

Happy New Year everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful time celebrating with loved ones. As we welcome the New Year, whispers of the same question have been circulating, with many worried and wondering: "Are the Australian property markets going to crash in 2023?"

They hear the perpetual property pessimists who've been chasing headlines and telling everyone who's prepared to listen that the Australian property markets are going to crash and housing values could drop up to 20% - but just look at the terrible track records - they've been predicting this every year for the last decade and they've been wrong.

QBE points out that both Brisbane and the Gold Coast had a strong 2021 and 2022, thanks to a combination of factors. First and foremost the relative affordability of property here, especially compared to Sydney and Melbourne. This drove interstate migration, primarily from southern states - but as we know put pressure on housing stock. 

But, like elsewhere, the shine has come off the heady pandemic era bubble, with CoreLogic data indicating falling prices across Australia. Looking at the Gold Coast market in CoreLogic’s Regional Market Update (Nov ‘22), the data indicates it has been more resilient. Houses have advanced +7.5 per cent to that date for a median of $1,003,676, with apartments up +7.7 per cent for a median of $654,977. 

Bear in mind that during the pandemic, values jumped by up to +40 per cent in some locations, and in many cases are still above pre-pandemic levels. CoreLogic indicates that dwellings across ‘lifestyle regions’ like the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast are ‘still on average +38 percent higher than where they were at the onset of COVID-19’. Average dwelling sales are also evidence of this, -11.7 per cent lower than a year ago, though +13.9 per cent higher than five years ago.

There has been a lot of speculation about falling prices of the GC following the pandemic boom, however several sources believe the Gold Coast is in a great position for growth to continue. For example, QBE’s recent report was very optimistic, indicating that ‘lifestyle factors and affordability, compared to southern markets, guarantee the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast will continue to experience relative market strength’. The REIQ indicates that it is ‘not only retirees seeing the appeal of living in the area, with people across all age groups moving to the region, like younger demographics studying on the Gold Coast or looking for the property investment Gold Coast has to offer’. 

Whether you’re looking to buy your forever home, downsizing or after a waterfront retreat for holidays, we have a collection of stunning new developments across the coastline. 

Click here to view our latest projects.

Sources: QBE, REIQ, CoreLogic, PropertyUpdate.com.au