Good News & Bad News for Locals - Some 2021 Stats
2021 – Whirlwind market for the Sunshine Coast.
There’s good news and bad news.
The bad news is the secret is out and the Sunshine Coast is amongst the most desirable locations to live in Australia and largely due to being more affordable than capital cities along the eastern seaboard.
The sleepy Sunshine Coast lifestyle may be a thing of the past, and has long been, but as interstate migration continues over the next decade, we can only hope that with sensible town planning and a focus on low density waterfront living we can avoid resembling our Gold Coast cousin in the future.
Yes, it can be a pain at the best of times to get a carpark at our local beaches, yes there is increased traffic congestion and currently it’s difficult to find new property opportunities if looking to purchase, but if nothing else the property market price increases have been the silver lining for locals.
The good news for those with local property is that over the last 12/18 months the coast has had the best market growth seen this century, if not ever. Now prices have increased, locals and interstate buyers will see the our market a little differently.
Out-of-towners will have seen the recent increase in prices and therefore the opportunity to buy well and have a cash surplus by trading out of their hometowns will now be reduced.
For the locals who love the Sunshine Coast lifestyle it will be interesting to observe what happens this year. Will locals embrace the influx of people in exchange for the rise in values? Or may consider cashing in several hundreds of thousands of equity boost and consider downsizing either their property holding and or their mortgage?
Some may head slightly further north to a similar environment. Along the coastline from Gympie to Yeppoon there are a number of seaside towns that offer the Sunshine Coast lifestyle of yesteryear for a fraction of the price.
So as one considers their property needs on the Sunshine Coast let’s take a look at what actually happened to our local market. Here are some stats compiled from local council data and CoreLogic.
Population growth
The Coast’s population was forecast to grow to more than 500,000 people by 2041 – that’s more than 8300 people per year between 2021 and 2041.
Sunshine Coast Council anticipated we would require more than 217,230 dwellings.
Sunshine Coast population
- 2021: 351,424.
- 2026: 394,842.
- 2031: 436,785.
- 2036: 478,035.
- 2041: 518,004.
Average annual growth rate from 2016-2041: 2.2 per cent.
Queensland population
- 2021: 5,261,567.
- 2026: 5,722,780.
- 2031: 6,206,566.
- 2036: 6,686,604.
- 2041: 7,161,661.
Average annual growth rate from 2016-2041: 1.6 per cent.
Source: Sunshine Coast Council (data updated August 2021).
Dwelling sales in August
- Total: 13,662.
- 36% higher than one year ago, and 25.3% above the five-year average for the region.
- House sales annual growth: 30.1per cent.
- Unit sales annual growth: 50.9 per cent.
Source: CoreLogic Regional Market Update November 2021.
Values
The changes in house and unit values over the year to October 2021
Houses – 32.3%
Upper quartile – 32.7%
Lower Quartile – 32.8%
Median Price – $946,405
Units – 29.1%
Upper quartile – 30.1%
Lower Quartile – 30.7%
Median Price – $653,274
