The Gold Coast property downturn is deepening, with home prices weakening slightly again in September as higher interest rates and reduced borrowing power take the heat out of one of Queensland’s most expensive housing markets.
The latest PropTrack home price data, released Thursday, shows the Gold Coast median dwelling values slipped 0.09 per cent last month to sit at $1.158m — a modest fall compared to capital city markets.
![Aerial view of the stunning Gold Coast skyline](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1280 720"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Aerial view of the Gold Coast skyline on a sunny day, Queensland, Australia. Photo: istock.
Prices are now 0.7 per cent lower over the quarter, although values remain 3.7 per cent higher than a year ago.
The latest result adds to mounting evidence the Glitter Strip’s extraordinary property boom has reached a turning point.
Gold Coast prices recorded their first monthly fall in almost four years in June, dropping a third of a per cent to a median of $1.18m.
By August, values had fallen another 0.13 per cent, taking the median dwelling price to $1.167m and pushing quarterly growth into negative territory for the first time in years, down 0.72 per cent.
Realestate.com.au economist Eleanor Creagh said the slowdown was particularly significant given the Gold Coast had been one of Australia’s strongest-performing property markets.
Realestate.com.au senior economist Eleanor Creagh.
As recently as April, dwelling values were 12.28 per cent higher than a year earlier, with the median reaching $1.199m. By August, annual growth had slowed to 5.5 per cent.
Detached houses have borne the brunt of the recent weakness.
In August, house values were down 0.97 per cent over the quarter to a median $1.421m, while units proved more resilient, edging 0.03 per cent higher over the month to $957,000.
Ms Creagh said higher borrowing costs were increasingly constraining buyers in a market where property prices now rival those of major capital cities.
However, chronic undersupply, population growth and the Gold Coast’s strong lifestyle appeal could provide some support for prices as the market cools.
Matusik Property Insights director Michael Matusik.
Property analyst Michael Matusik said that while prices were slowing, the Gold Coast market had changed from what was once perceived as ‘boom or bust’ and it was too early to say it was crashing.
“The Gold Coast market is slowing,” he said. “It probably needs to, but slowing isn’t crashing.
“This isn’t the old Gold Coast. The Gold Coast today is an economy worth about $58 billion, roughly one-third larger than before Covid. Some 385,000 people work there, with around 89,000 jobs added since Covid. Its unemployment rate is around 3.1 per cent.
“About 700,000 people now live there. It is Australia’s sixth-largest urban area and its economy is now larger than Newcastle’s and Canberra’s.”
Mr Matusik said the Gold Coast no longer relied only tourism, speculative apartments and overseas money.
“Importantly, about one in five new residents since Covid came from wealthier Australian LGAs,” he said.
“Many are older households arriving with substantial housing equity.”
