Investment Guide

A Gold Coast City Analysis 

The Gold Coast, since 1996, has recorded a population growth of around 15% or more. It is a sophisticated international tourist resort stretching along 42 km of Pacific Ocean surfing beaches, just 80km south of the city of Brisbane. High rise hotels and apartments line some of the beaches to provide great sea views and catch the breezes. Towers over 40-story's high were being built as long as 20 years ago and an 80-storey tower is about to start construction. Higher than the Eiffel Tower, it will be the tallest residential building in the world when finished in 2005.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates that well over 430,000 people now live permanently on the Gold Coast. The growth rate in excess of 13,000 annually is projected to continue at least for the next 10 years. At this rate of growth, the Gold Coast will reach 1.1 million people by the year 2051.

Gold Coast has had a population growth of around 13,500 people each year for the past five years. This creates a demand for a minimum of 4,600 new homes and apartments to be built each year or 383 every month, or 88 every week or almost 13 every day!). This figure does not include units and serviced apartments built for the tourist accommodation market.

Gold Coast currently accounts for 15% of Queensland's housing construction. It is estimated that just fewer than 10,600 houses changed hands on the Gold Coast during 2001/02. The demands for housing have increased steadily since the mid-1990. The surge over the last two years has been largely influenced by the completion of Highway 1 and the fast rail link to Brisbane. Median house values have risen by 23% across the Gold Coast over the last twelve months.

Property in beachside suburbs is tightly held and in demand from local and interstate buyers. Prices in some beachside suburbs have risen at an average of 15% per year over the past five years, blowing out in the period from October 2001 to March 2002 to rates of up to 100% in some cases.

Local owner occupiers as well as investors confidence is at an all time high. Expectation is that investments will continue to see much higher than average capital growth in these areas.

Currently close to $1 billion is being spent on two more big projects in Surfers Paradise. The $400 million Renaissance Development on the old Chevron Hotel site is completed and another $350 million is being spent on the town square, hotel and apartment complex in the centre of the city. Also well under construction is the $200 million Conrad Jupiter's Convention Centre that is being built adjacent to the Casino. The Gold Coast's first Super School, "Varsity College", next door to Bond University currently caters for pre-schoolers through to year 10 and each year for the next 2 years, will open up another grade to ultimately cater for 2,000 students of all ages, from pre-school to year 12. The forward looking attitude of this school includes a strong focus on the Creative Arts.

Sea World
Dream World
Warner Brothers Movie World
Wet'nWild
Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary
42km of beaches - with an average water temperature of 22 degrees
35 superb golf courses
Sub-Tropical Rainforest in the Mountains 20 km Inland
A large Broadwater and five major river systems
Major shopping centres, numerous boutiques, specialty shops and markets
More than 500 restaurants and cafes offering cuisines from around the world
Nightlife entertainment including:
   nightclubs
   restaurants
   clubs
   hotels
   Conrad Jupiters Casino
   Broadway musicals
   ballet and theatre
   Ripley's Believe It or Not
   Bungee Jumping
   Wax Museum

Rural hinterland stretching to the west and north of the City encompassing many natural wetlands
Tropical rainforest with abundant wildlife and numerous bush walks
Large sugar cane farms and a wealth of industry in the northern districts of the City
World-class sporting and recreational facilities

Various International Events, including:
   The Asia Pacific Masters Games
   The Australian Surf Life Saving Championships
   The Honda Indy 300
   Gold Coast Marathon
   The Conrad Jupiter's Magic Millions Horse Racing Carnival

Gold Coast is served by three universities (including Australia's only private university), 3 public hospitals and 7 private hospitals.

Tourism is one of the Gold Coast's successful employment generators and has been growing at 3.5% annually for the past 20 years. But many other smaller industries exist including filmmaking, high technology, medical research, luxury boat building and English language study by overseas students. Gold Coast is Australia's most popular convention venue after Sydney and a new 6,000 seat convention centre has just started construction (adjacent to Jupiters Casino) to open by mid 2004.

The Gold Coast has an incredible business edge over the big two population centres of Australia; Melbourne and Sydney, in the present economic climate. There are incredible opportunities for the existing and potential investor, but also for businesses that are considering being on the cutting edge of what is happening across our nation at this time.

The Gold Coast has a truly competitive environment in which to conduct business, enjoying lower overheads, and reduced costs per employee and lower State and Local Government taxes than Sydney or Melbourne. These are all contributing to the attractive business conditions of the Gold Coast. Property rental costs are significantly lower. Also, where most major cities are struggling to keep up with the electricity demands of new technology, the Gold Coast has the power capacity to supply most IT&T businesses with all their electricity requirements.

From a lifestyle point of view, the Gold Coast is Australia's premier tourist destination with 42 kilometres of magnificent beaches bounded by subtropical hinterland. With a warm, sub tropical climate all year round, reduced cost of living, lower traffic congestion, shorter distances to travel and diverse and affordable housing, you really couldn't ask for more.

The service sector, like Sydney and Melbourne, has shown the strongest relative growth in employment, with the manufacturing sector also performing relatively strong. These factors have contributed to the Gold Coast local economy having the highest business confidence in Queensland. The Gold Coast is moving away from a single industry to a broad industry-based economy.

The attractive business conditions, lifestyle and economic growth have contributed to the dynamic nature of the Gold Coast. The factors attributing to this are a large and sustainable population, a commitment to information technology and telecommunications, an infrastructure which allows an ease of mobility of people, a dynamic and energized workforce and a pro-business economic environment attracting multinational companies and an enviable quality of life.

The Gold Coast's initiatives to diversify the economy and reposition the city have seen it earn the label as the Innovation City of Australia.

 

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