Morning Briefing: Expert expresses concern as Gold Coast off the plan sales boom

Sales of off the plan apartments in the region in 2015 have already outstripped the amount sold through all of 2014... Sydney vacancy rate remains put over October, as regional markets see some movement...

Expert expresses concern as Gold Coast off the plan sales boom
While off the plan sales on the Gold Coast seem to be building a head of steam, one real estate professional hopes buyers have done their due diligence before jumping in.

According to the latest Urbis Gold Coast Apartment Essentials report, sales of off the plan apartments in the region in 2015 have already outstripped the amount sold through all of 2014.

“The Gold Coast apartment market is continuing to break records in 2015 with sales in the first three quarters combined of 1041, overtaking the total yearly sales for 2014 of 825,” Urbis senior consultant Lynda Campbell said

“The latest report shows that sales this quarter increased by 253 compared to the corresponding quarter for 2014 which recorded a total of 163 sales – an increase of more than 150%,” Campbell said.

According to the report, work is set to start on more than another 2,000 apartments over the next six months, with Campbell claiming decreased affordability across capital cities is behind the increased number of sales.

While that may be the case, Paul Wilson, founder of Gold Coast based buyers' agency We Find Houses, is concerned some buyers may be getting in over their heads.

“I’m not saying it’s necessarily a good idea or a bad idea, but I just hope that people have weighed up all the pros and cons before they go ahead with it,” Wilson said.

“I think it needs to be made clear to people that conditions aren’t automatically going to mimic what’s happened in some areas over the last few years,” he said.

 
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Sydney vacancy rate remains put over October, as regional markets see some movement
Sydney’s rental market is still being met with adequate demand, according to figures released yesterday.

The latest vacancy rate figures from the Real Estate Institute of New South Wales’ (REINSW) have shown that the city’s overall vacancy rate saw no movement over October, staying put at the 1.9% it rose to in September.

According to Malcolm Gunning, REINSW president, the Sydney rental market has the city’s employment prospects to thank for the continual low vacancy rate.

“For a second month in a row vacancy rates have remained at 1.9 %,” Gunning said.

“Job growth continues to be the key driver of interest in the Sydney market and the figures indicate demand is being met,” he said.

While overall the Sydney vacancy rate remained steady during October, there was some movement across the city.

The REINSW figures show the Inner City vacancy rate rose 0.1 % to 2.1 %, while vacancies in Outer Sydney dropped 0.1% to 1.6%.

The Middle Sydney vacancy rate remained steady at 1.9%.

While there was little movement in Sydney over October, regional markets of NSW proved to be more volatile.

Newcastle’s vacancy rate dropped to 1.8% to 2.2% over October, helping the Hunter-wide regional vacancy rate decrease from 3.3% to 2.7%.

Wollongong’s vacancy rate climbed 1.1% to 2.6%, pulling the overall Illawarra regional vacancy rate up 0.4% to 2.6%.

New England saw an increase of 0.6 % to 4.3 %, while Albury rose 0.5 % to 2.8 % and the Northern Rivers rose 0.1 % to 1.2 %.

Coffs Harbour dropped from 2.8 % to 1.9 % and the Mid North Coast 0.1 % to 1.4 %.
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