{"id":31836,"date":"2021-04-21T10:23:29","date_gmt":"2021-04-20T22:23:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/propertynoise.co.nz\/au\/?p=31836"},"modified":"2021-04-21T10:25:28","modified_gmt":"2021-04-20T22:25:28","slug":"developers-running-out-of-stock-in-gold-coast-buyer-frenzy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/propertynoise.co.nz\/au\/developers-running-out-of-stock-in-gold-coast-buyer-frenzy\/","title":{"rendered":"Developers running out of stock in Gold Coast buyer frenzy"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHOTO: Local buyers have been particularly active at the northern end of the Gold Coast. Photo: Shutterstock<\/strong><\/p>\n

REPUBLISHED WITH PERMISSION | API MAGAZINE<\/a><\/p>\n

Buyers are bidding past the listing price, incentives are out the window for off-the-plan purchases and developers are running out of stock, as the unprecedented frenzy for South East Queensland property shows no signs of abating.<\/p>\n

At the epicenter of the Queensland property boom is the Gold Coast<\/a>, where apartments, townhouses, villas and house and land packages are seemingly selling themselves.<\/p>\n

Data from Urbis showed the Gold Coast recorded the biggest sales increase of any Australian jurisdiction for apartment sales in the last three months of 2020, with 26 per cent of all available stock sold.<\/p>\n

WE DON\u2019T ROAST OUR BEANS UNTIL WE HAVE YOUR ORDER<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"Fergs<\/a><\/p>\n

Inner Brisbane\u2019s apartment market also continued to outperform the national average, with 16 per cent of the available stock sold in the December quarter.<\/p>\n

Urbis said project launches in Brisbane followed the improved sales demand, rising 20 per cent in 2020 compared to 2019.<\/p>\n

Aniko Group founder George Mastrocostas says it\u2019s the best market he\u2019s seen in his 20-year career selling Gold Coast property.<\/p>\n

Mr Mastrocostas said Aniko Group, which is focusing its operations around apartment, villa and townhouse developments on\u00a0Hope Island, accounted for 15 per cent of apartment sales on the Gold Coast in the December quarter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve always had sales and we\u2019ve always had consistent sales, and I\u2019ve always said that a good product will sell irrespective of the market conditions,\u201d Mr Mastrocostas told\u00a0Australian Property Investor Magazine<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut at the moment the level of enquiry is so high and there\u2019s no buyer hesitation or buyer\u2019s remorse.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the old days we might write 30 contracts in a month in a good market, but you might lose 10 a month because of buyer\u2019s remorse, but right now if you are getting 30 buyers, the 30 buyers are sticking.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s crazy, there\u2019s no convincing required. There are agents out there vying for good stock, there are purchasers out there that are fighting for apartments. We\u2019ve never seen that in the market, that\u2019s definitely got to be a first.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Mastrocostas said while buyers were once discerning and hesitant, the enquiry levels for apartments or house and land packages was the highest they\u2019ve ever been.<\/p>\n

But more importantly, he said the quality of enquiry was also at an all-time high.<\/p>\n

\u201cBack in the day, if you had 10 people enquire you might get a couple of sales or a sale. At the moment if you get 10 enquiries there could be six or seven sales in that 10. The conversion rate of the enquiry is quite high,\u201d Mr Mastrocostas said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBuyers would come in and negotiate back in the day, even six months ago you would get people coming in asking for a discount or get something thrown in.<\/p>\n

\u201cNone of that is there at the moment. If people are lucky enough to find it, they\u2019re feeling fortunate to be able to get a property and jump into the market at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Mastrocostas said Aniko Group was fortunate to have a strong pipeline of development projects, a situation that not all South East Queensland developers were enjoying.<\/p>\n

Aniko Group\u2019s current portfolio is valued at around $400 million, with the developer gearing up to launch a recently-approved $52 million house and land estate at\u00a0South Ripley\u00a0in Brisbane\u2019s west, and lodging plans for a $48 million luxury townhouse project at Hope Island.<\/p>\n

The developer is also set to start construction shortly on a $130 million waterfront precinct on Sickle Avenue, on the Hope Island waterfront, comprising 58 luxury townhouses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a healthy pipeline there that we will just continue to bring to market to appease the market\u2019s appetite,\u201d Mr Mastrocostas said.<\/p>\n

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\"Aniko<\/p>\n

Aniko Group’s waterfront townhomes on Hope Island have been a big hit with buyers. Image: Aniko Group<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cAs long as the market has demand we\u2019ll just keep on bringing on supply. We\u2019re happy to turn that tap off, depending on when that demand starts to come off or slow down, or whatever it may be, but I think that\u2019s the issue that most developers are going to face right now, is having that supply.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot many developers out there have a big pipeline of product. They may have one project in the wings, so I think it\u2019s going to come down to having a good supply of product moving forward, because at the moment it\u2019s getting really difficult out there.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know in established real estate a lot of the agents are saying they don\u2019t have any listings, and it\u2019s really hard for them at the moment. It\u2019s pretty much the same with any off-the-plan sales.\u201d<\/p>\n

The driving factors behind Queensland\u2019s property boom are well documented – historically low interest rates are giving buyers easy access to finance and increased buying power, interstate migration and population growth are hitting all-time highs, while government incentives have brought forward demand from first homebuyers and downsizers.<\/p>\n

Mr Mastrocostas said Aniko Group\u2019s success could also be attributed to its strategy of supplying a market that the developer viewed as having a big imbalance between supply and demand.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are providing a supply of apartments where I was always confident there was a huge underlying demand for high-density living in Hope Island that\u2019s never really been tapped into,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s also our belief in Hope Island and the North Shore. I live on the North Shore and I\u2019ve always believed that Hope Island will grow, and it has been, and will emerge as that epicentre of the North Shore.<\/p>\n

\u201cBuyers that are buying into Hope Island are different to the buyers that are buying into Palm Beach, Burleigh or Broadbeach.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re very much a lifestyle buyer, and they are very much a local buyer. The majority of our sales are coming from the local Gold Coast market, which is really the market that we\u2019ve always catered for.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are hearing about massive sales in Burleigh and Palm Beach, and a lot of them apparently are from interstate, which is great, but there is a very distinct market there.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re not our buyers, we are not targeting them and it\u2019s really not the product for a Sydney or a Melbourne buyer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just fortunate enough that we\u2019ve been able to create a brand out there at Hope Island, especially with the first stage of 1 Grant Avenue, which has been a huge success.”<\/p>\n

At the southern end of the coast, Brisbane-based Spyre Group is hurtling towards the launch of its fourth Gold Coast project, with the developer finding itself in the position of having no stock to market after selling out at its three previous projects.<\/p>\n

Luxury-focused Spyre Group has sold 110 apartments collectively valued at $231 million on the Gold Coast since it landed there in 2016, with two buildings having been completed and the other recently started construction.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u201cMAYA Kirra Beach and Elysian Broadbeach both completed construction in September of 2020. Natura Burleigh Heads saw the crane erected onsite in mid March and is on track for completion in 2022,\u201d Spyre Group director Andrew Malouf said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo see two projects reach sell out within months of completion, coupled with the phenomenal sales success at Natura is a true testament to all involved in these projects.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring Natura\u2019s launch, just weeks before the first COVID lockdown in March 2020, we saw 25 of the 31 apartments sell off the plan in one day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a pattern we certainly hope to repeat for future projects\u201d<\/p>\n

While Mr Malouf said Spyre Group hadn\u2019t been completely surprised by the results, they were nonetheless extremely pleased to achieve such strong sales in a market that was marked by uncertainty 12 months ago, and had morphed into one of Australia\u2019s most competitive since.<\/p>\n

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\"Spyre<\/p>\n

Spyre Group’s Natura at Broadbeach was one of the developer’s fastest selling projects. Image: Spyre Group<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cMuch like every developer at the time, we were certainly wary of the impacts COVID might have on the success of the market, particularly just having launched a project and with another two in the midst of construction,\u201d Mr Malouf told\u00a0API Magazine<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat said, we were confident in the products we were presenting. Copious amounts of research and preparation are invested into our projects before they hit the market. We develop beautiful residences that facilitate the requirements of our key downsizer clients.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd working with these clients to produce developments that tick all of their boxes is always going to guarantee some sort of success or market acceptance.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Spyre Group targets the downsizer and owner-occupier markets, Mr Malouf said there had been significant investor interest in its $79 million Elysian, located on the beachfront on Old Burleigh Road in\u00a0Broadbeach.<\/p>\n

CoreLogic data shows median values for units in Broadbeach have risen by 11.5 per cent over the past 12 months, while median rents are sitting at $430\/week.<\/p>\n

\u201cLocation has been a key draw card for investors at Elysian, the project gains great traction from the rental market also,\u201d Mr Malouf said.<\/p>\n

\u201cElysian was actually in the 3 top most searched for new residential developments on the Gold Coast for 2020.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next up for Spyre Group is a project to be known as Cala Dei, located on the former Komune Resort site overlooking the famous Snapper Rocks surf break at\u00a0Coolangatta.<\/p>\n

Spyre Group is awaiting a development approval for a 12-storey, 31 apartment complex which will be nestled in the foothills of the\u00a0Greenmount\u00a0headland.<\/p>\n

Mr Malouf said while it had become increasingly competitive among developers and challenging to acquire sites, their focus would continue to be on finding beachfront opportunities on the southern Gold Coast.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of time goes into the acquisition phase for each of our projects, searching high and low for sites that are synonymous with our ethos here at Spyre Group,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe selection criteria goes far beyond having a beachfront address, the sites we choose consider location and surrounding amenity, aspect, livability, durability and a general uniqueness.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re always looking to deliver a product that raises the benchmark within the market.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis criteria sheet is perhaps what has drawn us to the southern end of the Gold Coast in recent years, it fulfills our brief.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe aspect from Cala Dei\u2019s residences will be truly unique, with the outlook from the rear apartments as equally as beautiful as those on the front \u2013 stretching over the Tweed Marina and down to Cabarita on a clear day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s this level of consideration and a discerning approach to acquisition that allows us to create beautiful products that will hold their value for our clients for many years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Malouf said one of the big driving factors in the sales success was a fundamental shift in buyer behaviour that occurred over the pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo draw some positive out of such a trying year, COVID allowed people to recognise the true emotional value and importance of \u2018home\u2019 \u2013 which has pushed a significant percentage of people that weren\u2019t quite ready to downsize into taking the leap and committing to a sea change,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pandemic has also welcomed flexibility into the workplace, it\u2019s allowed people to reconfigure their professional lives to accommodate a coastal lifestyle that might have otherwise been\u00a0five to 10 years away.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe urgency that COVID created was in some ways unexpected, though we do hope that the influx of clients it pushed toward the Gold Coast is a trend that will hold for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n

\u201cRecognising the value in prioritising home life and stopping to appreciate the view is something we hope never goes out of style.\u201d<\/p>\n

WE DON\u2019T ROAST OUR BEANS UNTIL WE HAVE YOUR ORDER<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"Fergs<\/a><\/p>\n

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