Regional markets, led by the Gold Coast, are outperforming the capital cities on growth in apartment prices.
The latest CoreLogic data shows that the median price for apartments across Regional Australia has increased almost 20% in the past 12 months, compared to 9% in the Combined Capital Cities.
Regional unit prices rose 1.7% in August (compared to 1.1% in the capital cities), 5.7% in the latest quarter (3.4% in the capital cities) and 15.3% in the first eight months of 2021 (9.3% in the capital cities).
Regional Queensland is at the forefront of this strong performance by apartment markets. Its growth figures include 1.4% in August, 5.4% in the latest quarter, 15% in the year to date and 20% in the past 12 months.
The strongest of the Regional Queensland apartment markets is the Gold Coast, boosted by buyers (both owner-occupiers and investors) from interstate, notably from Sydney and Melbourne. The prolonged lockdowns in the two biggest cities have boosted demand for Gold Coast real estate.
Another major source of buyers of Gold Coast apartments is expat Australians seeking to escape Covid-19 hotspots overseas and searching for real estate hotspots back home.
Many of the core suburbs on the Gold Coast have recorded double-digit annual growth in their median apartment prices in the past 12 months, with some growing more than 15%.
Most of these locations have vacancy rates below 1% and offer median rental yields in the 5-6% range.
