Andrew Bell’s Market Wrap: Tourists Flock To The Gold Coast In Record Numbers

Issue 12 |  June 6th | How Will The Market Look By The End Of 2019?

Hi, Andrew Bell here and enjoying some of the best winter weather the Gold Coast has ever experienced. They are breathtaking days and here is a sample of the sorts of sunrises we are experiencing with these crystal clear skies.

The market remains in an interesting space. As we have touched on already, the post-election period has seen a significant rise in consumer confidence about the real estate market moving forward. There were real fears about what would happen to the market if negative gearing had been eliminated. With interest rates easing and good employment numbers announced last week, business and consumer confidence have been boosted. That is demonstrated by a significant number of sales that have happened post-election and by excellent numbers of new buyers attending our open homes. Amazingly, the bulk of enquiry has been triggered through advertising in both the Gold Coast Bulletin and national print.

On the seller’s side of the ledger, it continues to be a little challenging. There is quite a shortage of properties on the market and that is because we have been in a catch-22 situation. People will sell their properties when they find alternate ones to buy, and with so few properties on the market, people who would like to either upsize or downsize etc. are just not finding properties they want to purchase and so they do not list their properties for sale. Fewer properties on the market adds to the frustration of buyers who cannot find the property they are looking for. There is fairly strong competition in the marketplace for correctly priced properties, whilst those prices beyond the market are still sitting there unsold.

The focus today is that ever-important component of the Gold Coast property market, and that is the number of buyers attracted here from outside the region initially as a tourist. There are of course two aspects of tourism, national and international. The Gold Coast is attracting a record number of visitors from across the country. Recently released figures for tourism in the calendar year 2018 saw a 7.2% increase with 3.8 million people visiting the Gold Coast during 2018. Most importantly, overnight expenditure reached a record $3.5 billion which was a rise of a massive 19.7% year on year. Visitor nights grew 9% to 14.7 million. That increase is phenomenal in 1 year and it was interesting to see that holiday visitation increased by 5.2% to 2 million. Some of our inbound visitors were just overnighters for a conference, whilst those who come for holidays, we obviously reap more benefit from. Remember, among all of these are people who decide to buy, and, indeed, do buy. The more the merrier but, equally important, it boosts our Gold Coast economy.

On the international scene, it was a record-breaking year with international visitors staying longer and amassing a huge 10 million nights. We had an increase of 24,000 overseas visitors and a significant proportion of our overseas visitors are now coming to Australia for education purposes, which is a big boost to the Gold Coast as they generally stay long periods of time and, of course, spend throughout that time. New Zealand visitors jumped 11.5% to 213,000, the US market grew 10.2% to 41,000, Canada increased 28.5% to 21,000, Indian tourists went up 19.1% to 38,000, and our Singapore visitors increased 18.5% to 34,000.

This is a fantastic boost to not only the Gold Coast economy but a significant long-term support to the property market.

Have a good look at the properties we have for sale at the moment and let us know if there is anything we can help you with in any aspect of your real estate needs. We have an amazing vacancy of just 1.3% in the rental market and desperately need more properties to rent. Our property management team were named the International Property Management Team of the Year late last year, so you can be sure we will provide you with the industry’s very best results.

See you in a fortnight’s time. Until then, stay safe.

Kind regards,

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

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