The fastest growing suburbs on the Gold Coast aren't what you'd expect

If you bought in central Gold Coast just five years ago, right now you’d be cheering. In that time, prices for houses have risen a staggering 48 per cent.

That’s the highest increase for properties across the entire Gold Coast but it doesn’t mean other areas are suffering. House prices in all areas have risen more than 25 per cent.

Gold Coast’s south is another star performer, growing by 35 per cent growth over the past five years.

And the suburbs where most buyers want to be? Overwhelmingly it’s the “Waters” suburbs, such as Broadbeach Waters and Burleigh Waters. Over five years, Broadbeach Waters grew 49 per cent to a $1.09m median and of the highest selling suburbs on the Gold Coast it had the highest median sale price.

‘Waters’ suburbs are characterised by being set back from the beach and often feature canals, which can serve as a budget waterfront property.

Rhonda Mulholland of Harcourts Coastal says demand in the “waters” suburbs was being driven by families wanting homes on larger blocks within a reasonable distance of the beach.

“They want to be able to ride their pushie to the beach and it’s more affordable than Mermaid Waters,” she said.

“For those who can’t afford Burleigh Heads, Burleigh Waters is the next best thing because you can be as close as 700 metres from the beach.”

The majority of the housing that makes up Burleigh Waters is 80s brick homes that are now being renovated by clever vendors, Ms Mulholland said.

“There’s a lot of money being poured into the area — people are renovating these old homes and they’re the ones that the buyers love most.”

Ms Mulholland cited the recent sale of a Burleigh Waters house that nearly doubled in only two years.

“I sold it to them for $425,000 two years ago and since then they’ve renovated and now sold it again for $835,000,” she said.

But that growth is still pricing buyers with lower buying power out of the market, moving more activity further inland, Remax Regency agent Daryn Trowbridge said. 

“Burleigh Waters has gone ballistic recently. I’m telling buyers how much they’ll save by being that extra five minutes away and they’re seeing the services that Varsity Lakes has here and seeing the value,” he said.

Varsity Lakes saw a whopping 11 per cent increase in the median price over the past 12 months.

The extra five minute drive was well worth it for the $200,000 saving on house prices, Mr Trowbridge said. 

Lacey West agent Bobbie Higgins said Palm Beach was gaining popularity as tightly-held Burleigh Heads and Waters became too busy for those who liked it for its “village feel”.

“Burleigh’s got so busy,” Ms Higgins said. “It’s hard on the weekend to get parks.”

Ray White Mermaid Beach‘s Scott Wagner described how Burleigh Heads had a constant cloud of buyers hovering. He has already sold out new apartment development One Burleigh Heads, showcasing the intensity of the demand in the area.

“We’re not looking for 100 sales, we’re looking for eight or nine sales and when you get one person buy, there will be some kind of competition in the following days,” he said. “They seem to school like fish.”

People bought into the central and south areas of the Gold Coast with the expectation of holding property for a long time, Mr Wagner said.

“It’s such a rare area, people are buying into the area thinking their grandchildren will still own the homes.”

“What protects your investment is getting the best position you can.”