7 reasons Kirra Beach is a property investment hotspot

Often referred to as the Gold Coast’s “spiritual home of surfing”, Kirra is a high demand location that is internationally renowned for producing some of the best surfing breaks in the world. Given the wide variety of strong demand drivers, it is no surprise then that residential real estate located in Kirra appeals strongly to purchasers from Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne; especially downsizers who often plan to initially rent their property until they are ready to move in.

Here’s 7 reasons why the Kirra Area is experiencing strong residential growth:

1. It’s a prime location

Perfectly positioned for easy access to major city centres via the M1 Motorway, Kirra is approximately a 1-hour drive to Brisbane. And it’s proximity to the Gold Coast International Airport also makes Kirra an attractive location for residents and visitors alike, given direct links to many overseas destinations and numerous daily flights to major Australian cities. World Heritage Listed National Parks and the world-famous Byron Bay with its highly coveted natural appeal are also a short drive over the border into northern New South Wales.

2. Experiencing strong population growth

The Kirra Area’s population increased by 21% in the previous 10 years. Based on projections from the Queensland Government, by 2026 the population is expected to increase by a further 14%.

Future population growth will be driven by appealing lifestyle factors teamed with employment opportunities generated through major infrastructure and tourism projects. Couple this with relative affordability compared to southern state cities, and demand is magnified for new, high-quality apartments will be crucial to meeting the demands of a growing interstate migration population.

3. Achieving residential price growth

Over recent years, the Kirra Area has experienced strong price growth for both residential detached houses and attached dwellings (apartments and townhouses). From the 2013/14 financial year, the average price for both attached and detached properties increased on an annual basis. It is interesting to note that over both the longer and shorter-term, attached dwellings in the Kirra Area have outperformed detached houses on an annual percentage return basis.

• detached houses increased by a total value of $264,000 or 8.3% annually, now with an average price of $802,000;
• attached dwellings increased by a total value of $200,000 or 8.8% annually, now with an average price of $580,000.

Apartments are the preferred dwelling type in the Kirra Area, given a strong desire for people to maximise the lifestyle benefits through convenient lower maintenance living.

4. Has strong apartment resales activity

Highlighting recent apartment resale activity in the Kirra Area, it is interesting to note that even apartments of lower quality, condition and location have still achieved positive resale growth over both the short and longer-term. Apartment resales researched were held for an average period of around four years, during which time they achieved total average growth of $202,118 for the four years or annual average growth of $56,314.

5. Increasing apartment rental growth

Over the past two years, median rents for 2- and 3-bedroom apartments in the Kirra Area have increased by $63 or 15.9%. The fact that older apartments of lower quality, condition and location have still achieved positive rental growth recently confirms the investment potential of this area’s apartment market. With a vacancy rate of 1.1%, (which effectively means close to zero vacancies given that some properties will always be in a transition phase between tenants but not necessarily vacant in a traditional sense), there is further factual evidence to highlight the strong investment credentials and future opportunity for apartments located in the Kirra Area.

6. Low apartment supply and high demand

New apartment supply in Kirra itself has been constrained in recent times and will remain so into the future. This makes logical sense given site availability is limited due to Kirra’s relatively small
geographical area. To put this supply and demand environment into context, data from a recent Urbis’ Gold Coast Apartment Essentials Report, showed that of the entire Gold Coast new apartment market, the Kirra Area only accounts for 3% of supply that is currently under construction, being pre-sold or due to be released later in 2019.

This constrained apartment supply environment, coupled with high-demand drivers, greatly adds further weight to the strength of the investment opportunity within the Kirra Area.

7. Major infrastructure investment

With considerable infrastructure upgrades recently completed or planned for the southern end of the Gold Coast, residents and investors are well-positioned to directly benefit. Demonstrating the positive impact these major infrastructure projects have had on strengthening employment opportunities for local Kirra Area residents, improved economic and employment conditions are being experienced in the Kirra Area, resulting in extremely low vacancy rates and increased rents.

The Gold Coast Airport redevelopment and the John Flynn Hospital extension are just two major projects underway that will benefit the Kirra Area well into the future.

• The ‘POWER’ project will transform the John Flynn Hospital to cater for the ongoing population growth on the southern end of the Gold Coast and Northern Rivers regions. Stage one of the
  $60 million project is already completed.
• The Gold Coast Airport is Australia’s fifth busiest international airport. By 2031/32 it is forecast that it will service around 16.3 million passengers annually. A major redevelopment known as Project ‘LIFT’ is underway to ensure it can handle the increased capacity. The redevelopment is expected to generate additional tourism expenditure of around $62 million per year and contribute approximately $426 million to the Gross Regional Product over 20 years to the local economy.

Interested to learn more about investing in Kirra and the Gold Coast? Read more key investment statistics here: mosaicproperty.com.au/gold-coast/, scroll further down the page to read more property insights, or contact us to receive our full Kirra suburb profile.

* References made to the Kirra Area in this report typically includes Kirra, Coolangatta and Rainbow Bay. Please view our disclaimer for more information on Mosaic Research.