Andrew Bell’s Market Wrap: How Does Sport Impact The Gold Coast?

MARKET WRAP
Issue 20   |   September 28th, 2017  | Andrew Bell’s Market Wrap: How Does Sport Impact The Gold Coast?

Spring is certainly living up to its traditional activity with lots of buyers entering the market and some really strong activity, especially from interstaters. There seems to be a greater momentum of people than ever before wanting to move from Sydney and Melbourne to the Coast; driven not only by housing affordability issues but just simply wanting to escape the congestion and the lack of sense of community that comes from big cities wherever they are in the world. This is really providing significant support to the Gold Coast property market

WHY IS THE COMMONWEALTH GAMES IMPORTANT FOR THE GOLD COAST?

There is of course a lot of conversation about the Commonwealth Games. Many people asked why the Gold Coast was so keen to get the Commonwealth Games. Personally, I think it was great vision. That is starting to show itself in results that are now surfacing; where for example we see that the Gold Coast economy is the beneficiary of some $500 million a year from the sports industry. That is double what it was just five years ago.

The industry is forecast to explode further on the back of major coups such as the signing of the Spanish golf champion, Sergio Garcia, for this year’s Australian PGA, and of course the actual holding of the Games in April next year. The new figures show that sport is a growth market for the Gold Coast. It will generate $657 million in our economy by 2023 whereas just five years ago it was only $277 million.

Gold Coast City Council research shows that when athletes and their entourage come to the Gold Coast they stay longer and spend more money and this is precisely the type of visitor we are trying to attract.

This is showing a great return for rate payers who have invested in many of the Commonwealth Games infrastructures and it is starting to really pay dividends, and will do so for decades to come. It is estimated by 2023 that some 14,470 jobs will be related to the sports industry alone.

WHY HAS THERE BEEN A SIGNIFICANT SHIFT IN BUYERS LATELY?

Two other quick pieces of information that relate to the property market. In August 55,200 new jobs were taken up according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics and this is the biggest increase in nearly two years. There have been nearly a quarter of a million jobs added in the past six months alone in Australia and of course that results in more buyers for all forms of real estate.

Unemployment rate remains at 5.6%, only because there has been an uptick in Labour Force numbers, that is, more people have entered the work force now that they see that jobs are becoming available.

Full-time employment again accounted for the bulk of the gains, rising by some 40,000 jobs, and employment is now increasing at an annual rate of 2.7%. This is great news for our overall economy.

There is a significant shift in the makeup of buyers at present. The latest housing finance figures shows that the tough rules on lending to investors have led to a sharp fall in loans to investors, particularly in Sydney. However, at the same time, loans to first home buyers has surged.

Changes to the lending practices were driven by APRA which tightened the limits in March and has already been felt in Sydney where listings are up on a year ago and prices are level pegged. This is actually good news for the property market as it is important to have Sydney and Melbourne markets cool as they were vastly overheated.

It is totally different here on the Gold Coast where our market has been very sane and has substantially lagged behind the growth that has been seen in the Sydney and Melbourne markets. As a result, by comparison, we are standing out as great value which is why we are attracting an ever increasing number of people out of Sydney and Melbourne. It is also why we need to have the development that the Gold Coast City Council has been approving so that we can match the demands for housing for these people migrating to the wonderful Gold Coast.

$162,000 RAISED FOR MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY

Before signing off – I can now confirm that our Ball of a couple of weeks ago raised $162,000 for Muscular Dystrophy and was one of the largest fundraising nights on record; taking the total funds raised for Muscular Dystrophy to over $3.2 million. Half of this money goes to straight into buying the vital equipment for young families who are struggling to cope with all the equipment needed to support their kids, and the other half into the research fund as we continue to fight to eradicate this disease.

That is it for this fortnight. Stay safe and I look forward to being with you in early October.

Andrew Bell, OAM
Chief Executive Officer
The Ray White Surfers Paradise Group

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