Gold Coast property prices surge as dozens of suburbs record huge quarterly growth

The Gold Coast property marketing is still surging with dozens of suburbs recording more than five per cent growth in the December quarter, pushing home prices up by hundreds of thousands of dollars in some pockets.

Exclusive PropTrack analysis revealed prices soared by 12 per cent in the Glitter Strip’s best performing market last quarter, while 46 unit and house markets recorded growth of five per cent or more. Taking out the top spot was the Paradise Point house market, where the median value jumped $230,000 from $1.96m to $2.19m in the past three months.

In second place was the housing market in Surfers Paradise with prices up 11 per cent quarter on quarter, followed by the housing markets in Jacobs Well and Labrador, both up nine per cent. Housing markets in Lower Beechmont, Maudsland, Oxenford and Pimpama all recorded eight per cent growth over the quarter, while unit markets in Ormeau, Helensvale and Nerang also recorded an eight per cent jump. Over the past 12 months, the biggest mover was the housing market in Jacobs Well, up a staggering 23 per cent.

Houses in Maudsland, Oxenford and Willow Vale, and units in Nerang rounded out the top growth suburbs, up 22 per cent over the year. Only one suburb on the Gold Coast dropped in value over the quarter — the housing market in Currumbin fell 1 per cent from $2.04m to $2.03m.

PropTrack economist Anne Flaherty said the majority of the fastest growing suburbs around the country were more affordable areas, especially those with prices below $800,000.

“Affordability is driving more people to cheaper suburbs,” Ms Flaherty said.

She explained that demand for cheaper real estate was also the result of increased activity from investors, who tended to target units in some of the cheapest capital city suburbs. These investors have typically gone toe to toe with first-home buyers who, since October, have been supported by the expanded First Home Guarantee Scheme.

The scheme allows eligible buyers to purchase properties with deposits as low as 5 per cent without needing to pay pricey lender’s mortgage insurance. Many of the properties cheap enough to fall within the price caps for the first-home buyer support were the same areas getting popular with investors, Ms Flaherty explained. “Investors have been coming back into the market looking for long-term growth. It’s quite clear that we have a housing shortage that will take a while to correct.

“Investors are seeing that population growth is strong and we are not building enough, plus there have been interest rate cuts, so there has been an expectation of long-term (value) growth.” Ms Flaherty said many of the top growth markets of 2025 were unlikely to outperform in 2026 as buyer demand could tapper off as prices continue to rise.

Instead, buyers were likely to gravitate to new suburbs where they believed they could get better value, with the suburbs getting attention because of affordability continually shifting, she explained.

“It’s complex,” she said.

“Price growth can continue in very competitive markets because buyers who have been outbid or see very stiff competition are more likely to stretch budgets and offer more than they would have originally planned. “But you can get markets reaching a huge level where they are no longer as affordable any more. We have seen cases of prices increasing ($200,000) in a year and as these areas become less affordable, there are less buyers.”

She added that the First Home Guarantee Scheme would continue to drive demand over 2026 and suburbs below the price caps in each state would perform well. Ray White Queensland chief operating officer and auctioneer Gavin Croft said the Gold Coast remained a highly desirable destination for property investment and lifestyle purchases.

“The competitive bidding environment we’ve witnessed consistently demonstrates that quality properties are attracting genuine, qualified buyers ready to make decisive purchasing decisions,” he said.