Gold Coast keeps lustre despite stock slowdown

Demand for quality Gold Coast assets is expected to remain strong among both domestic and international buyers this year, despite a stock scarcity causing activity to slow down in the second half of 2015.

According to a market report by Ray White Commercial head of research Vanessa Rader, the volume of commercial property sales across the Gold Coast slowed during the second half of 2015, after a robust start to the year.

Strong development site sales and shopping centre transactions, as well as hotel sales, saw volumes reach close to $1 billion in the first six months of 2015.

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But the surge ground to halt from July to November, when development site transactions reached just $83 million and retail sales were just shy of $50 million.

Office transactions, however, were higher later in the year, reaching over $100 million, most notably due to the sale of The Rocket office building. The tower at 203 Robina Town Centre Drive, Robina, was sold to Sentinel Property Group and Clarence Property Group for $70 million.

The tower at 50 Cavill Ave sold late in 2015 for 50 Cavill Ave for $48.75 million.

The deal for the 16-level tower was the Gold Coast’s largest single-title office tower transaction in eight years.

Improving the outlook further, the Ray White Commercial figures do not include the pre-Christmas  sale of 50 Cavill Ave for $48.75 million.

As the year drew to a close, listed Sydney-based fund manager GDI Property Group exchanged contracts to acquire the landmark 22-level corporate tower in the heart of Surfers Paradise and says it will spend $10 million upgrading and refurbishing the building over the next three years.

The buyer pool at this price point has been greater, including overseas investors, resulting in increased competition and a reduction in yields across all asset classes

Rader says despite the reduction in turnover the number of transactions has remained high, highlighting a greater proportion of sub-$10 million assets.

She says the buyer pool at this price point has been greater, including overseas investors, resulting in increased competition and a reduction in yields across all asset classes.

Bell Central Shopping Centre was among the key sales on the Gold Coast in the second half of 2015.

According to the Ray White Commercial report, of the deals transacted in the second half of 2015, the largest industrial deal was for 10 Energy Circuit, at Robina, which has 2695sqm of floor space, for $6.425 million in September.

The second largest industrial deal was for 57–69 Boyd St, at Tugun, which sits on a 14,800sqm site, for $4.1 million in November.

Meanwhile, the largest retail deal listed in the report is Bell Central Shopping Centre, at 2 Bell Place,  Mudgeeraba, which was acquired by Clarence Property Corporation in July for $13.5 million.

The largest development site transaction was for a 250,000sqm parcel of land at Greenacre Drive, Arundel, which was acquired by Villa World for $30.675 million.

The site has DA approval for 190 lots but has development potential for 484 dwellings.