Gold Coast Commercial Markets To Benefit From Population and Tourist Growth

The Gold Coast’s commercial property market is set to buck national trends on the back of domestic travel demand and ongoing population growth, according to LJ Hooker Commercial’s latest Market Monitor. 

The Gold Coast is tipped to benefit from consumers’ preference for domestic rather than international holidays and the horizon of the cash rate cycle adding greater confidence for household budgets, said LJ Hooker Group’s Head of Research Mathew Tiller.  

And population growth – it’s forecast to increase 2.3% in the five years to 2026, outpacing Queensland’s 1.7% - is set to support office tenancies, particularly in health and education and training industries. 

“The Gold Coast’s commercial property market will run at a different pace to the capital cities,” said Mr Tiller. “For instance, office markets in the capitals are still challenged, but regional areas like the Gold Coast that have good transport and telecommunications infrastructure will be supported by healthy population growth and a diversified economy. In fact, the Gold Coast’s population growth will be well ahead of other Queensland regions, reaching almost 730,000 by 2026.” 

Mr Tiller said retail yields were circa 5% in the city with values and rents both trending upward. 

LJ Hooker Commercial Gold Coast’s Simon Tooma said the demand for quality retail was strong. The agency recently ran a campaign to lease a prime retail space along Surf Parade in Broadbeach. 

“The campaign attracted a broad depth of interest from retail operators, both local and national,” said Mr Tooma. 

“After the recent upgrades to the Broadbeach dining precinct, we are seeing a resurgence in the area with a number of national operators earmarking Broadbeach as a desired location. 

Mr Tooma said the Gold Coast benefitted from ‘tremendous growth in achieved rents over the past two years with several recent deals that are 60-70% above pre-Covid levels’.  

“This strong rental growth is a reflection of the strong underlying business confidence in the area”   

LJ Hooker Commercial Southern Gold Coast’s Tara Imlach said while industrial property rents had been on an upward trend over the last 12-24 months, rental growth had begun to plateau in the city’s industrial market. 

“The market has shifted and we’re starting to see expectation from tenants for better incentives,” said Ms Imlach. “It’s important for landlords to reach out to an asset manager that has strong local knowledge of the market to prepare a strategy that will optimise their investment.” 

Ms Imlach said developers were still looking around for industrial sites with upside, but land values made many projects challenging. 

She said average yields in smaller industrial precincts such as Currumbin and Burleigh Heads were around five per cent, she said, while Molendinar and Biggera Waters markets were fetching 6-6.5%. 

“We’re also seeing business owners wanting to buy industrial properties with a short lease to run on them at a high premium, with a view to moving in once the lease expires and securing their operations,” she said. 

Read more in our LJ Hooker Commercial Gold Coast Market Monitor.