Latest news with #MichaelMatusik
News.com.au
11-06-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
‘Perfect recipe' for Gold Coast property boom
A surge in buying power, record-low housing supply and a booming local economy have set the stage for the Gold Coast to outperform Australia's major property markets, a new report reveals. The city was in the 'early upswing phase' of the property cycle, with prices and rents rising rapidly off the back of a tightening supply pipeline, Kollosche's Gold Coast Property Outlook Annual 2025 Report in partnership with analyst Michael Matusik found. 'A boost in buying power, paired with record-low housing supply, is the perfect recipe for a Gold Coast property boom,' Kollosche managing director Michael Kollosche said. The report noted a 'deeper structural shift' underway, underpinned by limited new housing stock, strong economic indicators and rising generational demand. Among seven key indicators pointing to a local housing market boom were a surging population, with about 15,300 new residents moving to the region in 2024 — well above the decade average — on track to hit 825,000 by the 2032 Olympics. Household incomes were also climbing, with the average gross income now sitting at $145,000 — five per cent above the Queensland average. But the biggest pressure point remains housing supply. Resale house listings were sitting at just over four months' supply, while stock for attached dwellings — including townhouses and apartments — was down to 3.6 months. The rental market was even tighter, with fewer than 940 homes available for lease and a vacancy rate of just 1.3 per cent. The report noted the Gold Coast had been 'under-supplied since 2021'. Despite an annual need for 6,500 new homes, delivery had fallen well short. Some 42,000 approved apartments and townhouses remained unbuilt — a result of soaring construction costs and a shortage of skilled trades. The cost of building a new apartment hit $10,000 per sqm, making many projects unviable. Olympics-linked construction activity is expected to further exacerbate the trade shortage. The Gold Coast economy, now worth $45b, continued to expand, supported by more than $3.1b in commercial approvals in 2023 and a pipeline of more than 50 major infrastructure, health, education and residential projects. The city was now Australia's sixth largest urban population, fourth largest domestic tourism market and ninth largest regional economy. Median house prices were sitting at $1.2m, closing the gap on Sydney's $1.4m median and cementing the city's position as one of the nation's leading property markets.
News.com.au
25-04-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Townsville critically undersupplied
Townsville needs more than 9000 new homes within the next five years to house its booming population, a new report has revealed, as the number of dwelling approvals in the North Queensland region has plummeted since 2021. The recent report by property analyst Michael Matusik predicted prices in the critically undersupplied Townsville property market would shoot up, building on a strong run of price growth in 2024 and driven by the shrinking supply of new houses and apartments. Mr Matusik said dwelling approvals and dwelling registrations had slumped so low in the past four years, the demand equation for current approvals in Townsville was sitting at one new dwelling for every six adults looking for a home while dwelling registrations were at one new dwelling for almost nine adults. Mr Matusik said the city had grown by an estimated 3850 new residents in 2024, taking Townsville's population to 205,283 and making it the region's largest growth spurt on record. 'Much of the lift in population growth is expected to be in older age groups, and in particular downsizers and retirees, which is leading to heightened demand for premium apartments,' he said. At the same time property prices in the NQ region had skyrocketed. Mr Matusik said Townsville has been among the top regional performers with median apartment and home values surging almost 30 per cent in 2024 – led by apartment price growth. 'The Townsville market is well into the upswing phase of the property cycle as evidenced by median house values increasing 28 per cent last year,' he said. 'But local median apartment prices were tracking even higher than the broader market, rising 29 per cent. 'This compares with the median results for other major Australian regions, which saw housing prices rise, on average, just 3.5 per cent during 2024.' The report found almost 1875 new residences would need to be built in Townsville each year over the next five years to meet sustained demand. Mr Matusik said the Townsville unit market was particularly undersupplied and with just two approved apartment projects in Townsville to hit the market in the past twelve months, representing 50 dwellings in total, supply issues looked to continue. The Matusik report found on average across the Queensland coast, new boutique apartments were typically priced between $20,000 per square metre and $22,000 per square metre – levels likely to hold despite any potential market corrections. 'This price has almost doubled since Covid-19,' said the report. 'It is important to note that whilst pricing has increased substantially since the pandemic this was primarily due to the increases in the cost of construction. 'These costs are fixed and not market driven, so any correction to costs of construction is unlikely. 'In fact, it is very rare – when looking back over five decades of data – that housing construction prices fall.' One of the developments underway in Townsville is Maidment Group's $65 million 'Marina Residences'. Comprising 18 apartments across 10 levels, Marina Residences apartments range in price from $2.7m to $3.5m, with a 495sqm Sky Home priced at $7.5m. The development offers gross floor rates of $12,000 to $15,500 per square metre. 'This is around 35 per cent less than similar new apartment product elsewhere along the Queensland coast,' Mr Matusik's report said.
