Property owners in the central Gold Coast area are set to see good returns on their investment thanks to a forecast land squeeze.
The latest Urbis Market Outlook for the Arundel catchment shows the central Gold Coast is
set to feel a land squeeze with the only option to go up or out.
The October report shows there are only two major residential land projects in the demand area, where the population is forecast to grow by more than 5,000 residents each year for the next two decades.
Market Outlook author, Lynda Campbell, said there would be very few home options left for prospective buyers once the current projects were completed, leaving some challenges for town planning.
“After this current land supply is taken up the only options we will have left will be to go up, as in high rises, or keep pushing development farther out,” Ms Campbell said.
She said Arundel’s centrality and proximity to major job, transport, education and retail hubs was driving demand and eating away at supply.
“Lifestyle, amenity and connectivity are key attributes of central suburbs like Arundel and these are the places people want to live,” she said.
“West of the M1, there is much higher land supply, but may not hold the same lifestyle appeal as the central region and this will put pressure on the limited housing stock available.”
Ms Campbell said the tension between the supply of, and demand for, vacant land had delivered parcels in the Central Gold Coast catchment 8.2 per cent price growth over the past 10 years.
Based on 670 settled transactions, the median sale price for vacant land across the Gold Coast local government area was $239,000 for the six months to June 2016, while for the Central Gold Coast catchment it was $475,000.
Long-term price growth also is significant with the median price of vacant land in the central catchment rising 8.2 per cent a year over the past decade.
And the expansion of the light rail through the area is also set to impact prices with Queensland economist Cameron Murray finding that land within 400m of the light rail stations increased in value by seven per cent more than land between 400m and 2km away in the year after the light rail began operation.
Ms Campbell said the situation was amplified by the general pick-up in the wider Gold Coast property market.
“Sales volumes of vacant land, units and townhouses across the city are increasing as a result of a return of confidence to Gold Coast residential markets,” she said.
“The key drivers of population growth, employment and infrastructure spending are recording solid figures.
“Coupled with a low interest rate environment, the Gold Coast is attractive to investors as capital cities become less affordable.”
Villa World’s Arundel Springs, due to be launched in early 2017, will be one of the last major residential development holdings in the Arundel area.
Offering a boutique bushland-fringed community, Arundel Springs will be made up of
306 land lots and 80 townhouses.
Originally Published: http://www.realestate.com.au/