A MEXICAN wave of serious southern development money is building as the Gold Coast begins a $6 billion construction industry boom.
Several major Sydney and Melbourne companies admit to spying on potential development estates in southeast Queensland, with the Gold Coast a key spot as the interstate residential property markets reach their peak.
The key drivers are affordability as the Glitter Strip works its way out of the GFC, the positive vibe about jobs growth with the Commonwealth Games and the council removing bureaucratic red tape for planning applications.
Southern investors spy on best residential estate lots in city’s north as Games vibe takes off.
The latest data on the development industry shows:
• City Planning estimates more than $6 billion of actual buildings on its books which includes mega projects like Jewel, the Pacific Fair upgrade, the Coomera Town Centre and four tower Ruby project.
• The number of building applications so far this year already totals 1469 which compares to 9998 in 2015. Only 3215 were received three years ago.
• 15 major projects are due to the 2018 Commonwealth Games with that infrastructure to costed at $950 million and the event itself expected to inject $2 billion into the local economy.
• Some suburbs like Southport and Ashmore have recorded average median growth in the past 12 months of 11 per cent and 10 per cent with market forecasts suggesting the increases will “continue up to 2018 and beyond”.
• The final quarter of 2015 recorded the highest sales rate for new apartments since mid-2008 with some of this older stock being picked up by buyers.
Ben Peasley, Group Marketing Manager for Choice Homes on the Gold Coast. Picture: Jerad Williams
Choice Homes marketing manager Ben Peasley said the Queensland-based company noticed a turnaround as their Pimpama work took off after the Games’ announcement.
“Pre-Games every builder on the Gold Coast was suffering. We were building up to 800 homes a year here in the first year before the GFC,” Mr Peasley said.
“Our numbers were down to 152 pre-Games. We’re doing 500 homes on the Coast this year.”
At Pimpama, where between three to four homes a week are built by the company, the mantra among developers in the northern corridor is “a new home built a day for the last 22 years”.
Master Builders Qld deputy executive director Paul Bidwell.
Research by Masters Builders Queensland deputy director Paul Bidwell shows room for growth on the Gold Coast in terms of regional building approvals enjoying year-on-year an 8.1 per cent increase behind “Greater Brisbane” (29.1 per cent) and the Sunshine Coast (36 per cent).
For the entire article written by the Gold Coast Bulletin
CLICK HERE.
