“A lifestyle destination rather than a holiday destination” Why the Gold Coast is now more boom than bust

The Gold Coast has long been one of Australia’s most popular holiday destinations. It had sun, sand, surf, and Surfers Paradise, the epicentre of the action. It was lined with skyscrapers that rivalled anywhere in the southern hemisphere for height. Even today, there’s nowhere in Australia, and arguably the world, with towers of that scale so close to the sand.

Apartments were made for investors and holidaymakers who would snap them up every weekend all year round. It was an arrangement that suited everyone. But with that arrangement came a moniker. The Gold Coast became a ‘boom-bust market’. For the growth the market would see, there were equal busts.

Caitlin Rosenboom, Head of Projects for Ray White on the Gold Coast, says the Gold Coast property markets were heavily influenced by external factors it essentially couldn’t control.

“Because the Gold Coast was traditionally always a holiday destination, the type of apartment built was for that,” Rosenboom says. “But when the economy wobbled, like it has at certain points over the last few decades—such as during the GFC—the Gold Coast market was impacted more than anywhere else. The first thing to go in an economic downturn is the secondary residence, and proportionally, the Gold Coast was well skewed toward those properties.”

Rosenboom said it then became a fight to the bottom. “Once one person, whose hand was forced to sell, sold, then it reset prices in a negative way. Then there would be floods of listings and little demand, which put incredible downward pressure on pricing.”

Indeed, during the GFC, data from Ray White showed house prices across the Gold Coast region declined by around nine per cent across 2010 and 2011 combined, just a little more than the eight per cent for units. But looking more granularly, the picture was a bit different.

Since then, however, the Gold Coast has truly rid itself of its so-called boom-bust reputation.
From the start of 2012 to the end of 2020, house values rose by over 56 per cent, showing growth in every calendar year apart from 2018, when prices contracted by just one per cent. It was the same story for units over the same period, albeit with slightly more modest 30 per cent growth, and also with a minor one per cent dip in 2012, which houses didn’t experience.

“The Gold Coast has really matured as a region over the last decade,” Rosenboom said on the property market growth.

“It became more and more attractive as a place not only to holiday but to live. Better, larger apartments were being built, alongside an increased level of infrastructure upgrades and investment.”

The Gold Coast was certainly a region on the up and up. However, uncertainty reigned once again in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the country, locking both international and state borders.

The fear of another economic downturn, much like the GFC, could have put the Gold Coast in a problematic position, with a lack of tourism driving the economy. In the end, it was the opposite.

The way the Queensland Government handled the pandemic was broadcast around the country. Gold Coast locals were still on the waves, enjoying coffee on the beach, and living life, while Melburnians weren’t allowed out of their houses, and Sydneysiders weren’t much better off.
The race was on for those southern capital city dwellers to rush to the Gold Coast.

“The pandemic changed everything,” Rosenboom said. “A lot of people who lived in Sydney and Melbourne made the move for what they considered almost to be a secondment to another part of Australia. The vast majority hadn’t been to the Gold Coast before, or not since they were kids coming on holiday. When they realised how far the Gold Coast had come, no longer just a big holiday resort, most never left.”

Over the 12 months from June 2022 to June 2023, the Gold Coast gained nearly 20,000 people, accounting for 13 per cent of the migration to the whole of Queensland. The property market became one of the best-performing in the country as the demand v supply equation was heavily skewed toward the demand side. New apartment developments that came to market over 2021 and 2022 would spend less than a few weeks online before being sold out. Prices were both unrealistic and realistic at the same time.

Then came another potential bump in the road. The borders reopened, and employees had to show their face in the office, albeit just a few days a week. Would this be the start of the decline the Gold Coast property market hadn’t felt in a decade? In short, no. No, it wasn’t.

Much to the surprise of most in the property industry, growth continued. Another stellar growth cycle in 2023 and 2024 saw house prices rise by 57 per cent in the four years to December 2024, the same growth they saw in double the time up to 2024. Units boomed by 57 per cent too over the four years to the end of 2024, almost double the 30 per cent in the eight years prior.

“The Gold Coast is no longer a holiday destination but a lifestyle destination,” Rosenboom said.
“The pandemic shone a light on everything locals already loved about the Gold Coast. We have gone from being dominated by holiday lets to an owner-occupier-driven market due to the increased infrastructure, medical facilities, industry, and employment opportunities.”

Rosenboom has seen a mix of buyers at ARC Residences, the luxury tower on Garfield Terrace, considered the best street in Surfers Paradise, given it’s the only one that faces the beach.

A few Sydneysiders, locals from the northern Gold Coast suburbs like Hope Island and Helensvale, as well as a couple of overseas buyers, have all staked their claim in the building of just 37 half- and full-floor apartments with an oceanfront pool, gym with yoga room and infrared sauna, and a cinema, along with a suite of other amenities that are more common in a luxury hotel.

Rosenboom believes there’s no reason why the Gold Coast market should take a step back at all. “We’re now in an interest rate environment where they are only going down and not up, which tends to fuel further increases in price.”

All of the pent-up demand is even without taking into account the 2032 Brisbane Summer Olympics, and the G:LINK light rail extends all the way down to the airport and Coolangatta, essentially connecting the whole of the Gold Coast. If the response to the light rail is anything like Sydney’s, then values are in for one hell of a ride.

Ray White Senior Economist Nerida Conisbee echoed Rosenboom’s sentiment, suggesting the economic stability the Gold Coast now has, with the shortness in supply, scarcity of land, and in particular, the rapid expansion of its population.

“The influx of nearly 20,000 new residents in a single year is a testament to the Gold Coast's appeal, offering a combination of lifestyle, employment opportunities, and relative affordability compared to other major Australian cities,” Conisbee says, adding, however, that this huge increase in population is putting pressure on the housing market.

“Despite the positive outlook, the Gold Coast faces significant challenges in accommodating its projected growth. The shortage of land means that the city will need to embrace higher-density development to house its expanding population.”