Developers Turn Back on BtR as Apartment Sales Skyrocket

Apartment sales on the Gold Coast have skyrocketed, according to fresh data from Urbis, prompting some developers to turn their build-to-rent projects into build-to-sell.

In its latest report on the Glitter Strip market, Urbis found apartment sales had risen from 200 in the second quarter of 2023 to 470 in the third.

According to Urbis director Paul Riga, most of the sales were around the traditional apartment precincts of Surfers Paradise, Broadbeach and Main Beach, while the remainder of sales along the Gold Coast were limited due to a lack of new projects.

In a significant trend, he said, a number of projects developed as build-to-rent had switched to build-to-sell, signifying developers’ desire to capture sales in a constrained supply environment.

Projects to make the switch on the Gold Coast include the first stage of Cienna at Varsity Lakes; A’Dore at Southport, which has been renamed La Isla; and Essence, Surfers Paradise, now know as Essentia.

“What the data tells us quite simply is that the demand for apartments has remained strong, with new developments harnessing the purchasers,” Riga said.

“This is great for the property market, it underpins property prices but creates further problems with supply, so if new projects don’t get underway the supply will continue to diminish.”

The data showed:

• Of the 470 sales during the past quarter, 77 per cent were in the Gold Coast Central Precinct

• There were 1770 apartments for sale at the end of September—82 per cent of these were at Surfers Paradise, Main Beach and Broadbeach

• The Gold Coast’s North Shore, Coastal Fringe and Southern Beaches precincts have limited supply with just 264 apartments for sale across them

• Five new projects launched during the quarter—four at Broadbeach, the other at Main Beach.

Highland chief executive David Highland, whose Sydney-based company has expanded its operations to the Gold Coast, said the data underpinned the resilience of the market.

▲ A render of Sammut Group’s Coast, now under construction at Surfers Paradise.

“What this shows us is that demand for the Gold Coast has not diminished since the boom times brought about after the Covid pandemic,” he said.

“We still have strong interest from Sydneysiders keen to either move to the Gold Coast or take a stake in the Gold Coast’s future by purchasing an apartment here.

“The problem is that unless construction costs stabilise there may not be the stock required to meet demand, so buyers getting into the market now are in an enviable position where there may be considerable upside in the value of their apartments.”

Highland, whose company is marketing Sammut Group’s Coast apartments now under construction at Surfers Paradise, said the current inflationary pressures and construction costs were drawing buyers to quality developers that had the capacity to deliver.

“Projects under construction or with a builder locked in are certainly at a distinct advantage in the eyes of buyers,” he said.

Gold Coast new apartment sales

_{▲ Source: Urbis}