Gold Coast property in demand from southern state buyers despite the closed border

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PHOTO: Strict border closures are no match for southern state buyers on a mission to buy. Photo: Tourism Queensland

Queensland’s border may be closed to NSW, Victoria and ACT but that’s proving no obstacle for property hunters from the southern states, with reports of a surge in buyers snapping up homes sight unseen.

Andrew Bell, chief executive of Ray White Surfers Paradise, said since the second phase of the COVID-19 pandemic had accelerated in Sydney and particularly in Victoria, he had seen a “dramatic increase” in the number of buyers from those states purchasing property on the Gold Coast.

He recently sold nine properties in one weekend – most of which were sold sight unseen, or through virtual inspections – to people from NSW, Victoria and the ACT.

At a recent RWSP group auction, interstate buyers purchased apartments in Surfers Paradise, units in Hope Island and family homes in Southport and Ashmore.

“Generally these people are aged 60-plus, they see Queensland as a safer place to be, and have said to themselves ‘Why am I living here, I’m moving to Queensland’. It’s as simple as that,” Mr Bell said.

“We are finding that people who are now reassessing their lives and choosing to move to Queensland is something that’s driving the current strong activity seen in the market.