Apartment pipeline set to dwindle

The Gold Coast’s apartment pipeline faces major delays, risking further strain on the housing crisis.

GC Apartments (Shutterstock)

The Gold Coast’s apartment pipeline is at risk of a dramatic slowdown, with new research released by the Property Council of Australia painting a grim picture of the future.

The independent research, prepared by Urbis, shows 53 per cent of the Gold Coast’s apartment pipeline is at a moderate to high risk of being withdrawn, or delayed.

Urbis Director, Paul Riga, said the number of projects launched on the Gold Coast during the first three months of 2024 were the lowest the city has seen in five years.

“While we’re seeing a consistent number of Development Approvals, the red flags that indicate a potential slowdown are the increasing number of projects that simply aren’t advancing to formal sales or construction phases,” Mr Riga said.

“Based on the growing volume of approved but inactive projects, the supply of new apartments in the Gold Coast could fall from 1900 units in 2025 to 1400 units in 2026, with only 50 units being relatively certain to be delivered in 2027.

“It’s an alarming prospect for a city tasked with shouldering the supply of 4500 new dwellings each year under the South East Queensland Regional Plan.”

A fall in future apartment sales could potentially lead to further housing shortages and push Gold Coast property prices even higher.

Property Council of Australia Queensland Executive Director Jess Caire said increasing costs and lagging infrastructure delivery were among the biggest barriers to the delivery of new projects.

“Cost burdens are placing enormous constraints on delivery programs. 

Not only the cost of construction, but the cost of increasing – and uncompetitive – taxes, and infrastructure that isn’t aligned with planning.

“To provide the housing we all deserve, we need to welcome the investment Queensland needs.”

Gold Coast Councillor Mark Hammel, who is Chair of the city’s Planning and Regulation Committee, said the prospect of an apartment slowdown in the middle of a housing crisis was deeply concerning.

“This only reinforces why developing a new planning scheme as quickly as possible is so important,” Cr Hammel said.