Apartment construction market recovering
The Property Council of Australia’s Gold Coast Apartment Snapshot reveals the nation’s fastest growing city is showing signs of recovery in its apartment construction market.
However, the risk of new apartments ever reaching completion also continues to climb.
The third annual snapshot showed the Gold Coast delivered 2431 new apartment and townhouse lot registrations in 2025, down 6.3 per cent from 2024.
The result was significantly less than the 2850 originally forecast, and the numbers also fell short of dwelling targets set in the State Government’s South East Queensland Regional Plan to meet the region’s growing population.
“New apartments are a critical component of the Gold Coast’s overall housing mix,” says Property Council Queensland Executive Director Jess Caire.
“We cannot address housing choice, affordability or supply challenges at the scale required without more apartments being built.”
Despite the uptick in new project launches, Urbis analysis shows that 60 per cent of approved projects due for completion in 2028 and 2029 are at a moderate or high risk of not finishing.
Urbis Director Paul Riga said that while purchase activity remained strong, approval volatility and labour challenges were increasing the risk for new projects.
“The Gold Coast apartment market has held up relatively well, supported in part by premium projects and consistent buyer demand,” Mr Riga said.
“But when you look beyond the projects already underway, the picture becomes more uncertain.
“Approvals have been volatile, delivery timeframes have lengthened, and a significant share of future stock is still exposed to delay or withdrawal.”
“That means the real consequences of today’s constrains are likely to be felt over the next several years – both in the availability of new apartments for purchasers and in the broader housing market.”
These challenges are acutely felt in the build-to-rent space, where Urbis found just 850 units had been approved for the Gold Coast – down from 1,700 apartments approved in the system last year.
Ms Caire said the report highlighted the need for further action to address feasibility issues.
“The data in this report reinforces that everything must be on the table to give apartment projects the best chance of succeeding,” she said.
“We know that the State Government is increasingly focused on housing supply right across Queensland.”
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