Plenty to buy on the Gold Coast for under $300,000 but not much on the Sunshine Coast: Herron Todd White

The Gold Coast property market presents a myriad opportunities for those seeking an investment under $300,000, according to Herron Todd White’s September month in review report.

According to HTW’s Gold Coast valuation team, about 20% of properties currently being sold on the Gold Coast are priced under $300,000, but there is not much for that price on the more expensive Sunshine Coast.

“Provided buyers are not greedy in their house wants or are able to live comfortably in a unit, there is a myriad of options available for purchasers wishing to spend under $300,000,” says HTW’s Gold Coast office.

Looking at the unit market, HTW says there are plenty of sub-$300,000 options in Surfers Paradise, including older-style units starting in the low $100,000s and one-bedroom, one-bathroom units in modern high rises from $250,000 to $320,000.

A recent sale in this price range was a 7th floor one-bedroom apartment plus study with two bathrooms in Wings Residential on the Gold Coast Highway,  built around 2004, which sold on June 28, 2012, for $250,000.

Another one-bedroom unit at Wings (pictured below) on the fourth floor that measures 90 square metres is currently listed for sale by Raine & Horne Surfers Paradise John Monteith, “very keenly priced” at $309,000.

Other recent sales around the $300,000 mark include Unit 43 in Diamond Beach South in Mermaid Beach, a two-bedroom semi-modern unit in a three-storey walk-up, and a 1994 two-bedroom low-rise unit measuring 105 square metres.

The report suggests that sections of the Gold Coast apartment market are still very much a basket case, with HTW valuers highlighting Southport CBD medium-/high-rise developments, which have recorded severe drops in value over the past couple of years due to distressed sales and rising body corporate rates.

“While values are still slowly softening, the rental market has remained relatively stable."

According to HTW, a notable sale at the $300,000 price point was 715/2 Aqua Street, Southport – a 2009, two-bedroom medium-rise unit with single car basement car space measuring 84 square metres within the Meriton development Brighton on Broadwater (pictured below).

Originally sold by the developer for $350,000 in 2009, the apartment sold in July 2011 for $300,000 and most recently sold for $286,250 in April this year.