Andrew Bell’s Market Wrap: Strong News on Supply and Demand

Issue 17 | Thursday July 16th 2020 | Strong News on Supply and Demand

Hi, Andrew Bell coming to you from the magnificent beachfront location of 116 The Esplanade, Surfers Paradise.

Today I want to address two vital components of the fundamentals that drive real estate, and that is supply and demand. As I do so, take a good look through these amazing full floor apartments that have just been completed. They are beautifully positioned beachside with features you just simply do not find in other apartments. It is a boutique building of only 20 apartments and whilst we have 1 half floor remaining, we do also have a couple of spacious 4-bedroom whole floor apartments with a separate media room. There are unique features one after the other, everything from larger than usual weather protected balconies, stunning dining rooms with ocean and coastline views, great separation from the master bedroom to all the other bedrooms, and even one bedroom which is perfect for overnight visitors. Have a good look as I address these key factors.

The first is Queensland’s population. The most recent official figures show that Queensland’s population surged by 1.7 percent to reach 5.1 million, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Whilst Victoria had the strongest percentage growth at 2 percent, Queensland was second, but we are going to see amazing changes in the growth of both of those states as a result of COVID-19.

The overall growth in Australia was 371,000 people which was a 1.5 percent increase, taking our total population to 25.5 million. Whilst we are obviously going to have a pause in overseas migration for some time, there is going to be a mighty lot of movement around states and we are already seeing quite a significant exit from Victoria into Queensland.

This strong growth in migration to Queensland and growth in the State’s population bodes well for continual demand for our real estate.

On the supply side of things, the latest figures show that the number of housing lots released by developers across the country for sale was down 25 percent over the past year. Looking a little further forward, we see there was a 27 percent fall in dwelling approvals throughout the country in 2019, which does not bode well for providing additional supply of new housing. COVID-19 has of course made it more difficult for land development, both because of delays through approval processes but also simply because Banks are not as inclined to be financing developments at present.

The Southeast Queensland Regional Plan identified that the Gold Coast required an additional 158,900 dwellings by 2041 to accommodate the anticipated increase of 351,000 people to our City. About 20 percent, or 31,000, of these new dwellings are anticipated to be in the Gold Coast’s expansion area, which is known as the ‘Greenfield’ area. However, the latest report identifies that this Greenfield area has a realistic capacity of 22,673 dwellings that could be constructed by 2041, and, of those, only about 11,000 odd have chance of being developed.

Looking at both sets of figures, we see the ever increasing population but an inability to keep supplying vacant land for construction, so it is going to put a mighty lot of pressure back onto medium and high-rise developments to accommodate this population growth, albeit we recognise that the majority of people migrating to Queensland at present are downsizers who have a preference for inner-city townhouses or apartments, and so this bodes well for our high-rise development sector.

I hope you have enjoyed having a look at these great apartments at 116 The Esplanade, Surfers Paradise. They are truly unique. We have just had a run of sales in the $4 million to $5 million bracket for high-end apartments and I would suggest to you that these apartments here are amongst the best designed and sized there is in the marketplace. Details of marketing agent Sarah Tanner (s.tanner@rwsp.net or 0416 176 710) please feel free to reach out to arrange an inspection. These will be snapped up very quickly and they are really something you shouldn’t miss.

That is all for this fortnight. I am very excited about our plans for the next twelve months as we form part of the Gold Coast’s resurgence team in that post COVID-19 drive to get our city back at full strength across all our amazing industries.

See you in a fortnights time.

Warm Regards, Andrew Bell

Kind regards,

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

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