Housing needed to support all Sunshine Coast markets

With a new planning scheme and a local government keen to get moving on delivery of the Maroochydore CBD, the Sunshine Coast’s property market has entered 2015 with strong potential.

At the Property Council’s first Sunshine Coast event for 2015 – the Sunshine Coast Regional Market Outlook, our panel of expert speakers supported this positive outlook, but cited a number of key concerns for the region’s growth.

Michael Campbell, Senior Consultant – AECgroup began proceedings with a general economic overview, outlining population growth as a key driver of prosperity in the region.

Michael also discussed the Property Council’s Office Market Report findings for the Sunshine Coast, which showed a slight tightening of vacancy in the region’s constrained office market over the past 12 months.

Bruce Harper, General Manager – Investa Land translated these positive economic drivers into a potential surge in the Sunshine Coast’s residential market.

Bruce did, however, provide a concerning caveat on this growth – outlining an existing supply pipeline of only 3 months, and a total of less than 3 years’ worth of greenfield land remaining on the Coast.

Bruce cited infrastructure approval and delivery timeframes as the number one impediment to delivery of new residential stock on approved sites.

Finally, Scott Douglas, Investment General Manager – QIC Global Real Estate provided his outlook for the retail sector on the Sunshine Coast.

Scott warned that the region’s share of retail spend was not being adequately captured, with a growing proportion of consumer activity escaping to Brisbane.

In addition, Scott advocated for a re-tool of the region’s economic development strategy to align more directly with the existing powerhouse industries. Scott stressed that industry requires a strategy focused on the role that retail, construction and tourism play in supporting the region’s economy.

The keynote presentations were followed by a panel session moderated by Sunshine Coast Committee Chair Dustin Welch, Divisional Director – Savills.

The panel concluded that the land availability issue was a key concern affecting all markets on the Sunshine Coast; restricting the number of employees available for the health services and commercial markets and limiting the customer base for retail in the region.

The Property Council would like to sincerely thank Michael, Bruce, Scott and Dustin for generously devoting their time to present at the first Sunshine Coast event of 2015. Special thanks must go to our generous event sponsors Investa, without whose support this event would not be possible.

Sponsored By:

Bruce Harper – Investa Land, Scott Douglas – QIC, Chris Mountford – Property Council of Australia, Michael Campbell – AECgroup & Dustin Welch – Savills & Chair of the Property Council of Australia’s Sunshine Coast Committee