Why investors have splashed their cash in QLD's south-east coast

Investors are already hard in training for the Brisbane Olympics, calling agents on the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast looking for property to buy that’s likely to win them gold by 2032.

A lot could happen in the next 10 years, and probably will, but they’re carefully examining all their options so they’ll be perfectly set for the starter’s gun.

“Some people are buying now as they want to come and live here later, so they’ll have a place when they’re ready, but a lot of others are coming purely to invest,” says Gold Coast specialist Rebecca Moffrey from Ray White Burleigh Group.

“They’re looking in consideration for when the Olympics come and, in the interim, they’re seeing good rents and healthy capital growth.”

On the Gold Coast, many of those investors are buying in some of the most popular areas, such as Mermaid Beach, the Isle of Capri, Paradise Waters and Sorrento, and are looking particularly for waterfront homes, Moffrey says.

She also suggests less well-known locations, like the inner-city suburb of Ashmore, where there are currently plans for a new $50 million shopping centre.

“There are a lot of hills inland, so often you can get great views too,” she says.

Both Queensland coastal regions show strong growth in rents and value.

On the Gold Coast, house rents have risen 21.7 per cent in the past year to a median of $730 a week, on the latest Domain Rent Report, and units by 22.4 per cent to $600.

On the Sunshine Coast, house rents are $680, having risen 13.3 per cent over the year, and units are at $550 after growth of 12.8 per cent.

In Noosa, Tom Offermann from his eponymous agency says the major hurdle for investors is the shortage of stock.

An auction he had just conducted had only one property and 10 registered bidders, and as a result, sold for $500,000 over the reserve at $3.95 million.

“I think a lot of people have been standing back and building up their savings and now we have a backlog of buyers,” Offermann says.

“So far, we haven’t seen anything like the typical spring supply come on, but anyone who manages to buy now will be buying well compared to where the market will be in 12 months’ time.

“The Sunshine Coast is still very much a rising market … with apartments selling from under $1 million up to $21 million. Some properties are returning three to five per cent net and have high capital growth.”

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Investors are particularly seeking waterfront properties in Noosa Sound while others are seeking “the next Noosa” in places like Rainbow Beach and Agnes Waters, where prices are lower.

But even in Noosa, prices are starting to soften, says Chris McKillop of valuers Herron Todd White on the Sunshine Coast.

“We’re seeing the first little signs of the tide starting to turn,” he says.

On the Gold Coast, his colleague Luke Nichols says market activity is easing.

“Vendors are more reluctant to sell and we’ve gone from an apartment oversupply to an undersupply,” he says.