PROPERTY PORTFOLIO
2022 MARKET UPDATE WITH STEVE HUNT | MEDIAHUNT.COM.AU
COASTAL SHIFT Accelerating the Queensland Dream.
Glasshouse
Coast
FOR MANY around the world and around Australia, the desire to live in Queensland has been a distant pipedream. But recent data shows that the dream has become a reality for many, and this has underpinned Southeast Queensland – with the exception of perhaps Sydney’s prestige market – as the premier property destination in Australia throughout this period. In fact, latest data shows Queensland continues to be the most popular destination in the country for property investment with the most settlements in the past three quarters than any other state. Let’s face it, a lot of people have benefited. Even first homebuyers who bought near the start of the boom have gained significant equity against their loans. If you owned a house or apartment in early 2020, chances are it is worth 40-50 per cent more now than it was back then. If you were an investor anywhere in the Southeast, you will have done well on paper. If you are a property developer, you probably have a very healthy balance sheet with incredible sales to report in some projects during this period. One thinks of Sammut Group’s ‘Coast’ project which sold almost $200 million in product at an
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average price of more than $4 million – a record for the Gold Coast. Or Spyre Group’s $77 million Natura at Burleigh Heads which sold out of its apartments on one weekend in 2020. Or S & S Projects’ Flow apartments at Rainbow Bay that sold out rapidly at an average price of $3.5 million. I could go on – there are many projects that have sold out giving developers incredible balance sheets and new investors to Queensland stunning new abodes in which to not only accelerate, but accommodate the dream. It’s not all beer and skittles however, and there are certainly some developers putting projects on ice because they no longer stack up against the spectre of rising construction and materials costs. Regardless of this – the dream continues to become a reality for many with Queensland recording its highest migration numbers last year in almost two decades. What is most notable is the quality of the investment coming into Queensland. Rich listers like Harry Triguboff, Max Beck (Beckdev), Eddie Hirsch (Hirsch and Faigen) and Sam Arnaout (Iris Capital) have combined investments on the Gold Coast in the billions of dollars.
And these players have the balance sheets to resist any headwinds. Hirsch and Faigen only recently announced Queensland’s leading construction company Hutchinsons to build its third Gold Coast project in 18 months – Yves at Mermaid Beach which has been one of the sales standouts of a softening off the plan market. Sammut Group has also announced Australia’s largest construction company Multiplex as the builder of Coast. The migration into regional areas out of the traditional live-to-work pods of Sydney and Melbourne is profound. In the past, the biggest hindrance for growth in the state was a lack of unemployment. But with unemployment now at around 4 per cent there is certainly an economic case to move to the Sunshine State. Add to that comparative value – we are still in some areas three times better value than some areas of Sydney and Melbourne – and you have all the ingredients you need for the boom to continue. The creep up the coast is starting to percolate as well. It’s been almost 20 years since a large scale residential and marina project has been added to Queensland’s coastline, but a South Australian
