The Gold Coast's residential property market has been running hot since COVID, with demand and price rises fuelled by lifestyle migration from Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
But that growth comes with a downside for people who want to invest or move there because the Gold Coast is now one of Australia's most expensive places to buy a home.
CoreLogic says the median dwelling price on the Goldie, as it is known, have risen 75 per cent since March 2020 to just over $1 million.
The median house price is $1.2 million, second only to Sydney, while median unit prices, including townhouses, are now at $803,000.
Strong population growth
Economist Kaytlin Ezzy from CoreLogic attributes the sharp prices increases to robust population growth coinciding with a period of low supply.
"Since the beginning of COVID it's been one of the strongest performing markets because it's had a mismatch between supply and demand," she says.
"There was a real shortage of listings at a time when a lot of people were coming across the border to settle in southeast Queensland.
"Over the past couple of months though we have seen that pace of growth easing."
Rob Forde, Sales Director at Coastal Group, says the market is slowing but it still has momentum.
Momentum remains
"The growth we've seen has been outstanding, but it is probably slowing, and you can feel that, but there still seems to be plenty of demand," says Forde.
"We're doing around 50 auctions a month and are still seeing a decent number of investors or people moving up.
"The thing that is underpinning it is listing volumes are still really tight, stock on the market just hasn't freed up.
"Hopefully we'll see bit of a run in spring with more listings."
The stock shortage is a double-edged sword.
It creates competitive friction but discourages homeowners from selling because of fears they won't find a new home and will be locked out of the market.
Entry level demand
Forde says entry level stock is in the highest demand based on auction registrations and bidder numbers.
"It's going off. Anything sub $1 million is pretty healthy and then I think really good beachfront or waterfront stock of $5 million plus is performing really well."
Dave Manby, Group Director of Harcourts Property Hub, says price growth is slowing but demand is well ahead of supply.
"We need about 8000 new homes on the Gold Coast each year and there's only about 3000 being built," says Manby, who owns offices in Mermaid Beach, Burleigh and Robina.
Next hot spot
Manby says average days to sell a home across his network is between 28 to 35 days.
"That's still a very, very good market. Attendee numbers at the average open home are still somewhere between 25 and 30 across a four-week campaign and at the hot ones we're getting 50, 60 or 70."
He says the unit market is strong, especially under $1 million.
"That's really fast-moving stock," says Manby.
"Houses up to $1.5 million, the typical mum and dad homes, are in high demand over Robina, Varsity and Burleigh Waters."
His tip for a suburb to watch is Elanora.
"It's the next affordable suburb out of Palmie -Elanora's definitely the one to watch for growth," he says.
On the market - high end
If its ultimate beachside living that you are after this three-bedroom, three-bathroom on the beachfront at Burleigh Heads may be the one. The open-plan luxury apartment with stunning beach views goes to auction on October 5.
On the market - affordable
This five-bedroom family home is in the Gold Coast suburb of Elanora - tipped as "the next affordable suburb out of Palmie". The two-storey home with lush grounds and an elevated pool to take in the views is for sale with "offers over $1.65 million" as the guide.
