Big players, big winners in robust Gold Coast luxury apartment market

Well capitalised residential developers with large balance sheets and locked-in builders are set to be the flag bearers of a resilient Gold Coast apartment market into the future despite slowing conditions across the country’s apartment sector, according to industry experts.

This appears to be an emerging trend in a market which industry analysts say has become one of Australia’s most exclusive luxury apartment markets – driven by high migration and the post-Covid flight to Queensland from southern states which appears be continuing unabated.

Latest available data from Urbis shows the residential apartment market remains strong, with a similar number of apartments selling in the first and second quarters of 2026.

What is interesting is the average price of an apartment has continued to rise, showcasing the increasing emergence of the luxury beachfront apartment sector where some ultra luxury penthouses are now selling for in excess of $30 million.

Latest available data from Urbis showed the weighted average sale price across the Gold Coast increased sharply during the second quarter to $2.634 million, up from $2.228 million in Q1.

The southern beaches precinct – from Burleigh Heads to Coolangatta - recorded the highest average sale price at $4.874 million, based on 70 sales during Q2.

Two penthouses have sold for in excess of $25 million in the last two years, Glasshouse at Burleigh Heads provide ONE Burleigh for in excess of $30m.

Another recently launched project, the $500 million Nalu by Monaco – located between Hedges Avenue and Burleigh Heads – has penthouse prices tags of between $27.5m and $32m.

Property analyst Michael Matusik, who is preparing a report on Australia’s luxury apartment evolution and the downsizer phenomenon, said the Gold Coast had come to cater to the wealthy downsizers.

“The Gold Coast used to be about lock and leave investment apartments in Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach. But that has all changed,” said Mr Matusik.

“The pandemic saw an explosion of relocations to the Gold Coast and with that came developers keen to cater to a very affluent market.

“The fact apartments have been selling in nearby Burleigh Heads for more than $25 million that tells you something about what developers are creating and who is now buying on the Gold Coast.

“The Gold Coast’s millionaire’s row of Hedges Avenue is a ‘who’s who’ of the Australian business community who are, interestingly, starting to get on in years and might no longer require a six-bedroom, four car, beachfront on a double block.

“They love the Gold Coast, but they want to downsize, they want to stay in the same location. This is the cohort that luxury developers are targeting and it is a robust market despite some areas of negativity across the property sector as a whole.”

At present there are a record number of 82 cranes in the sky on the Gold Coast, and the big question is if the migration continues at the rate of 15,000 per annum which it has done consistently since the pandemic.

New project activity is also showing no signs of slowing. A further eight new projects launched during Q2, following 14 launches in Q1. Urbis is now monitoring 97 new projects across the Gold Coast – the highest number on record.

Urbis’s second quarter data – the latest available data – show sales rates for apartments consistent with quarter 1 with just over 300 sales – headed by 52 sales in Hirsch and Faigen’s $200 million Eveleigh apartments. Hirsch and Faigen is linked to petroleum tycoon Eddie Hirsch.

“The combination of sustained sales, rising average prices and continued project launches points to a market that remains resilient despite broader economic and policy headwinds,” said Urbis senior consultant Lynda Campbell.

“Buyers are clearly continuing to make decisions based on the quality of the project, location and long-term appeal rather than being paralysed by broader economic headlines.”

The real pivot is expected to work in favour of the big players.

Australia’s high-rise king Harry Tiguboff’s build it and they will come philosophy is underpinned by the fact that he has more than 1900 apartments currently under construction.

One of those, the 1300-apartment twin tower Cypress Palms, is being developed on a large precinct labelled the ‘Surfers Paradise North’, which also features the $1.5 billion Paradiso Place being undertaken by international developer SPG Land.

SPG Land recently reported more than $100 million in sales, a tally that it puts down to a ‘flight to quality’ as buyers look to projects by proven developers with a strong track record of delivery, solid balance sheets and a builder in place.

SPG Land Marketing Director Stephen Wang said the company believed the Gold Coast was entering an ‘unprecedented era of demand, fueled by interstate migration and the runway to the 2032 Olympics’.

“With a critical shortage of residential and accommodation supply already evident, we are seeing heightened appeal for premium, emerging pockets like the Surfers North enclave,” said Mr Wang.

“Buyers are quickly recognizing it as the coast's next major lifestyle neighborhood. While the upcoming Olympic infrastructure boom is fantastic for the city's global standing, it will heavily compete for resources, making projects that are already moving forward incredibly valuable to the market."

"Right now, certainty is the most valuable commodity a developer can offer. Seeing major players actively investing across the precinct speaks volumes about collective developer confidence in the Gold Coast's future. Drawing on an international perspective allows us to bring world-class architecture, wellness, and hospitality benchmarks to the table, but also having the patient capital and focus needed to execute our craft has been equally important.

“As an international developer with a proven track record of delivering at scale, our long-term investment commitment to Paradiso Place represents our absolute confidence in the Gold Coast market.”

Victoria’s largest private developer Central Equity, headed by Eddie Kutner, remains buoyant, with the company teaming up with construction giant Multiplex to build its Palmera project at Surfers Paradise. The project has already amassed more than $400 million in sales and is currently under construction.

"We have resounding confidence in the Gold Coast over the long term,” says Central Equity’s Karl Kutner.

“The city has evolved into one of Australia's most dynamic and resilient property markets, supported by continued population growth, sustained infrastructure investment and strong demand from owner-occupiers and lifestyle buyers.

“Palmera’s purchasers have come from South-East Queensland and interstate, which reflects the depth of demand for well-located projects that offer quality and certainty of delivery."

Mr Kutner said the company had secured Multiplex before builders and trades pivoted to infrastructure work ahead of the 2032 Olympics.

"As the region continues to grow and activity associated with the 2032 Olympics gathers pace, access to experienced construction resources will remain an important consideration for the development industry,” he said.

“We believe the market will continue to place a premium on projects that can demonstrate genuine delivery certainty, with construction underway, finance approved and an established builder appointed."

Sydney-based DVB Projects, which has developed projects across the eastern seaboard for more than 30 years and which has more than $600 million investments on the central Gold Coast across two projects, is also taking a long term view.

“We’re very conscious of the ebbs and flows of property cycles and have always adopted a long-term approach to delivering our assets to various marketplaces,” said Managing Director Dean Brown.

“We have a very robust long-term view of the Gold Coast and Southeast Queensland which has reinforced our view to commencing our second beach project at Broadbeach.

“With our first project Seaglass 50 per cent sold and under construction by Hutchinsons Builders, we have launched our second project, the $317 million Breeze, to capture a growing cohort of luxury downsizers who want to live in luxury in places like the Gold Coast.”

Matt George, head of one of Australia’s leading project marketing companies Urban Activation, said the flight to quality was underway.

“There’s no doubt that buyers are gravitating to projects that are being undertaken by proven industry players. They want certainty,” he says.

“The property market always has cycles but the larger well capitalised developers tend to apply a long-term approach to projects.

“The Gold Coast is going nowhere. The apartment market is underpinned by a growing cohort of downsizers, strong migration and empty nesters, many of whom who are selling their homes unencumbered to move into apartments and are not impacted by interest rate increases.

“The big players are certainly positioning themselves to take advantage of the next few years where the Gold Coast’s population is expected to reach more than one million people.”

Another major player taking the long-term lens on the Gold Coast is Malaysian conglomerate MRCB, which has recently contracted two leading builders to build its $600 million Vista in Surfers Paradise which has secured more than $300 million in sales, and its $200 million Maris apartments in Southport which is 90 per cent sold.

“There’s a genuine pattern emerging in the market where companies like MRCB are entering the Gold Coast with a long-term lens,” said Mr George.

“These are big, global companies, that know where the opportunities are and they see the Gold Coast as a very sound investment strategy over the long term.”

Third generation Gold Coast developer-builder John Kearney, who is currently developing the Kaiya apartments at Kirra, said construction capability was critical in a softer market environment.

“In a softer market and with construction costs rising, development certainty is heavily reliant upon consruction capability and a strongly or integrated developer-builder relationship,” said Mr Kearney.

“We believe strongly in the development opportunities in the South-East Queensland, including the Gold Coast, and our pipeline reflects that confidence.

“The team are already onsite at Kaiya and this is the third project we’re building in Coolangatta – Rthythm, 120 Marine Parade and now Kaiya in Haig Street – so this is a team that has proven to have worked together before. That is the difference between an ad-hoc team that’s been put together and a team you can trust to deliver your project.”

Colliers Gold Coast’s head of residential, David Higgins, says another important factor underpinning the health of the broader property market was a lack of supply.

“The Gold Coast continues to face a significant housing shortfall, estimated at more than 5,000 dwellings per year,” said Mr Higgins.

“While interest rates often dominate headlines, supply and population growth will continue to drive long-term demand for housing and apartment projects over the medium term.”