Gold Coast Bulletin

Viva Hyde & Aleisha Dawson

Burleigh Waters and Ormeau are tipped to lead the Gold Coast’s property price growth in 2026, according to a leading property analyst. The Growth Leaders report – a collaboration between Finance Better and Hotspotting – ranks every Australian capital city and regional market.

While Brisbane came in first across the country, regional Queensland, which included the Gold Coast, came in seventh place with the two Glitter Strip suburbs highlighted in the top 10 suburbs for regional Queensland. The unit market in Burleigh Waters and the house market in Ormeau were both in the top 10 suburbs in regional Queensland expected to outperform in 2026.

Finance Better founder Louis Velasquez said the analysis showed that key locations on the Gold Coast continued to deliver strong results on multiple metrics. “The Gold Coast market, which has been rising strongly for five years, continues to deliver,” he said. “In the Burleigh Waters unit market 58 per cent of sales were for above the asking price while in the Ormeau house market, 62 per cent of sales were for above asking price,” Mr Velasquez said.

“Both locations have very low vacancy rates below 1 per cent, rents are rising and the time it takes to sell a property is on average 32 days.” Mr Velasquez said the Gold Coast’s northern growth corridor in particular, including O d Ormeau, continued to attract home buyers and investors, with major new infrastructure projects having an influence.

Hotspotting founder Terry Ryder (pictured) said the Gold Coast had been a standout location for some time and that was set to continue in 2026. “The market in particular benefits from a phenomenon we are seeing in many parts of Australia and that is increasing demand in unit markets,” Mr Ryder said. “Unit markets particularly in areas such as the Gold Coast offer buyers an opportunity to secure a property in a lifestyle location and often in a better location than most could afford in the house market.”

Other regional Queensland suburbs to make the top 10 inl d dS h C ’ cluded Sunshine Coast’s markets Birtinya (units) and Parrearra (units), and Cairns’ Edmonton (houses) and Manoora (units).  Townsville’s Aitkenvale (houses), Mackay’s Bucasia (houses) and Toowoomba’s Newtown (units) also made the top 10 list. The report also revealed 62 per cent of regional Queensland markets recorded positive ratings with 30 per cent or more of properties sold above the asking price. Eight capital cities and six state regional markets were analysed for the report.