Max Beck joins interstate rush to Gold Coast apartment market
Rich Lister Max Beck has joined a bevvy of Sydney and Melbourne developers acquiring sites on the Gold Coast, as they look to take advantage of rising demand for new apartments and a looming under-supply of stock.
Mr Beck’s Melbourne-based Beckdev paid $7.9 million for a 2355 square metre site at 31-35 Mclean Street, Coolangatta, where it intends to deliver 170 apartments with sea views.
Joining the action, Melbourne-based New Sky Group paid $6.5 million for an 818 square metre site at 1203-1205 Gold Coast Highway at Palm Beach, which came with a permit for 29 apartments.
Also at Palm Beach, an 861 square metre site at 474-476 The Esplanade with a permit for 15 apartments was acquired for $10.8 million by developer Dean Pask’s Casana Development, Pask Group has projects in Victoria and Queensland.
North of the border, Sydney-based Aberdeen Group has acquired a 2093 square metre site at 26 Mawarra Street at Palm Beach with approval for 69 apartments (vendor Cru-Collective paid $3.3 million for it in 2019) while another Sydney developer, Macquarie Developments Group paid about $4.5 million for a 1235 square metre corner block at 15 Rosewood Avenue at Broadbeach. It sold with a permit for 186 apartments over 39 levels.
The surge in interstate deals comes as research group Urbis recorded 450 apartment sales and a 14-project sellout in the June quarter. A fifth of buyers were from interstate.
Combined with a record first quarter of 742 sales, new apartment sales for the first six months of this year reached 1192, leaving a seven-year low of just four months of supply at current sales rates.
“Supply reached a critical low across the Gold Coast at the end of June following another quarter of robust sales activity,” said Urbis senior consultant Lynda Campbell.
“While the [sales] numbers in the June quarter failed to match the first three months of this year, it was still the second-highest quarterly result in five years.”
The latest string of acquisitions follows two Surfers Paradise sites selling at record rates of $20,000 a square metre and veteran developer David Devine launching a $340 million project on a prime beachfront site.
All five new-site sales were brokered by Gold Coast-based GV Property Group.
Director Antonio Mercuri, said the Gold Coast offered incredible value when compared to Victoria and NSW and was driving demand from interstate groups.
“The pandemic has also caused a dip in interest from international developers, which has opened the market for more interstate buyers,” Mr Mercuri said.
“With the Gold Coast currently undergoing a complete regeneration, developers can now afford to push project boundaries further than they typically would in their home states.”
This includes offering larger, more luxurious apartments to appeal to wealthy downsizers and those seeking a family holiday home.
In May, Queensland developers Chris and Letitia Vitale sold out all 84 upmarket residences in their $450 million mixed-use development at Burleigh Heads within six months.
According to Urbis, 1000 apartments will be launched on the Gold Coast over the next six months.
