The heady world of Gold Coast real estate makes for some odd bedfellows.
In the (still) booming GC real estate market, reality TV stars and ex-footy champions are among thousands of new realtors competing for sales commissions on multimillion-dollar beach homes.
Property values on the Gold Coast soared an incredible 60.7% between July 2019 and 2022 compared to Sydney (34%) and Melbourne (20.6%), with the median property price rising from $650,000 to $1,080,000 – a surge from $430,000.
Unsurprisingly, real estate license applications have also exploded.
More than 3,000 new property licenses have been issued in Queensland since October 2019 – almost half of them on the Gold Coast.
Among them is former GWS Giants forward Jonathan Patton, who left the AFL last April for a job at high-end Broadbeach agency Kollosche.
Six months later, Patton signed his first major sale — a $4.51 million four-bedroom Miami home that sold for a whopping $1.3 million over the reservation.
MAFS graduate Jake Edwards was lured into the Gold Coast real estate market
Jake Edwards is now acting as a buyer’s agent on the Gold Coast, which has recorded a 60% market value since 2019
He also works with former Love Island contestant and real estate agent Eoghan Murphy, who can often be seen hosting open houses on coveted Mermaid Beach.
Married At First Sight alumni Jake Edwards also relocated to the Gold Coast in mid-2021 and started a buyer’s agent business amid the maelstrom of a multi-million dollar sales frenzy.
“My first 12 months…there was so much growth, so I think we’ve timed pretty well into this new period of business,” says Edwards, who admits his MAFS pedigree can provide the occasional “icebreaker.”
“I’m certainly not rebelling (MAFS fame) but it can certainly be a conversation starter. But the way the market is on the Gold Coast, there’s so much going on that there’s a lot to talk about.”
Ex-GWS Giants forward Jonny Patton (right) is now selling properties on the Gold Coast
Patton is now a member of the Gold Coast’s colorful real estate scene
As the pandemic sent property prices skyrocketing across Australia, few markets have been as staggering as the Gold Coast.
Since the beginning of 2020, tales of startling sales figures have become daily talks on the Gold Coast, where property in general dominates the dinner party chatter.
Some stories stand out: There was the record-breaking sale of a luxury penthouse in Surfers Paradise atop the Soul building. Originally purchased for $8 million, the pad flipped for $15.25 during lockdown, making it Queensland’s most expensive home sale in the past year.
Veteran Gold Coast real estate agent Luke Henderson recalls the moment just after the introduction of mask requirements in March 2020 when it became clear something special was happening in the market.
Henderson’s father, John, opened Professionals Realty in Mermaid Beach in 1973, and Luke himself was more than 20 years old.
But even with annual sales averaging $100 million and a string of awards that rank him as one of the nation’s best-selling agents, Henderson admits he still wasn’t quite prepared for what was to come.
The soulful penthouse in Surfers Paradise that set a housing record in Queensland
Ex-Love Island contestant Eoghan Murphy can often be seen hosting open houses along the coveted beachfront of Mermaid Beach
One of the Gold Coast’s most prominent agents, Luke Henderson says “nobody” saw the pandemic boom coming
“I remember having this defunct property in Mermaid Waters where the roof had collapsed and there was significant water damage everywhere,” Henderson told Chron Australia.
“The carpet was all torn and basically it was a shell with half a roof on it.
“And I looked at it and at first I thought; ‘Gee, how are we supposed to sell this?’
“But when we opened it up to auction registrations, out of all the auctions we’ve had in the last two years, we’ve had more registrations for this one out of maybe 150 others.
“We also had the most bids higher than reserve than any other auction.
“We held the auction in a cul-de-sac and ended up having to cordon off the street from the crowd it was that huge. I’ve never seen anything like this.
“That’s when I realized; ‘Wow. People just buy everything… warts and stuff.”
The roofless hull, which coincidentally last sold for $232,000 in 1988, ended up selling for $1.5 million.
Based on the prices that have followed in the two years since, it’s been a steal.
Dane Atherton says any pandemic lockdown would drive his phone “crazy” as Southern buyers shop for homes
Lleyton Hewitt’s purchase of a luxury home in Burleigh Waters has also attracted local interest – not least as the former Wimbledon champion has relocated from his beloved Toorak to the Gold Coast for a big move.
The Aussie Davis Cup captain paid $4.3 million for the home, nearly $1 million more than the previous owner paid just four months earlier.
Then there’s the sale of one of its iconic beach mansions — 159 Hedges Avenue — sold by tech billionaire Chris Morris for $21 million — a $6 million gain on its original purchase price just over a year ago .
Lleyton Hewitt is now among the many new Gold Coast residents who have fled Sydney and Melbourne
Hewitt paid $4.3 million for his new Burleigh Waters home — $1 million more than the previous owner paid just four months earlier
Dane Atherton, property director at Harcourts Coastal Group, which handled Hewitt’s Burleigh purchase, said the spike in demand since early 2020 could be directly attributed to interstate lockdowns.
“Every time there was a lockdown in Sydney and Melbourne our phones just went crazy,” Atherton told Chron Australia.
“And probably one of the biggest surprises for me was seeing these ‘invisible’ transactions.
“Two years ago selling an unseen property was virtually unheard of but during Covid I would say they accounted for one in two sales.
“One of these was a $5 million house in Sorrento that the buyer inspected via Facetime.”
A landmark home on Hedges Avenue that sold for $21 million – a profit of $6 million in just one year
The Hedges Avenue home was sold by tech billionaire Chris Morris to a mystery buyer in May
As for the future of the Gold Coast as the country’s leading real estate forge, Eliza Owen, head researcher at Core Logic, admits it’s holding up well despite significant market downturns elsewhere.
“I’m not saying the Gold Coast is immune to what’s happening elsewhere in terms of interest rate changes,” Owen told Chron Australia.
“But it’s an area that seems to have a long tailwind.
“It is still the main destination of internal migration.
“And I think as we see more international borders open up, I think the Gold Coast will be back at the center of another wave of growth that you might not necessarily see in other places.
“All of this points to a positive result.”