The Gold Coast has weathered the storm that eroded the property market earlier this year, with house values holding steady despite fewer sales.

CoreLogic’s latest Regional Market Update shows the city’s house values increased 0.3 per cent to $637,614 in the year to October despite the number of sales dropping 13 per cent.

While data for apartments painted a slightly gloomier picture, homeowners need not worry about their investment.

Unit values dropped just 1.7 per cent to $413,595 despite transactions falling 15.8 per cent.

The Coast was one of 25 non-capital city regions across Australia analysed in the report.

It was also among more than half of the 50 separate house and unit markets that saw values increase during the period.

CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless said it wasn’t surprising so many areas performed well.

“Overall, our latest data points to an increase of value growth in regional markets, particularly those which are located adjacent to capital cities.

“As people are priced out of certain capital cities, buyers now appear to be looking to these adjacent regions.

“Homeowners in Sydney and Melbourne have seen a substantial rise in housing equity over recent years.

“Subsequently, we are seeing some evidence that these buyers are starting to look for holiday and investment properties in certain regional markets, which is also providing an impetus for some of the value growth we are currently seeing.”

Ray White Surfers Paradise Group chief executive Andrew Bell said the Coast was likely to benefit from Sydney’s improving market, especially now that auction clearance rates in the city were picking back up.

“Sydney is traditionally our biggest source of interstate buyers and, as more sellers cash in there, more capital usually starts flowing north of the border,” he said.

“The Gold Coast has held up particularly well throughout the downturn experienced by Sydney and Melbourne over the past couple of years, and that’s largely due to the regional economy driving continued demand from local and interstate buyers.

“Some Sydney buyers have actually held off selling after seeing the value of their properties fall from record highs and this has actually stalled their plans to relocate to the Coast.

“Now, with conditions improving down south and as these markets become more liquid, this should translate into more of these buyers making the move north.”

Source: realestate.com.au