Surfers Paradise 
Professionals Newlands Real Estate – Surfers Paradise Principal and The REIQ Director, John Newlands is always being sought for his expert comment – he recently discussed which inland suburbs offered more homes with prices close to the median with realestate.com.au.
THE Gold Coast is renowned for its multimillion-dollar mansions but the average house in the region is worth much less.
Latest CoreLogic data shows the median house price on the Coast is in fact $655,000 — up from $627,000 at the same time last year.
So where can house hunters actually buy a house in that price range?
REIQ Gold Coast zone chairman Andrew Henderson said location dictated price with homes closer to the beach, shopping centres and transport bumping values up.
“Location is going to make a big impact on what you get,” he said.
“If you’re located close to Pacific Fair, generally you will pay a premium on that.
“It’s the same with houses near Robina Town Centre and potentially Westfield Coomera. Those big infrastructure projects generally help with the pricing of property.”
REIQ director John Newlands said inland suburbs including Ashmore, Robina and parts of Burleigh and Palm Beach offered more homes with prices close to the median.
While he didn’t think million-dollar properties would dominate the Coast market any time soon, he believed the median would continue to climb.
“It’s certainly showing growth and I still see it growing,” he said.
“It’s starting to creep up there, but I still think it’s quite affordable.”
McGrath Palm Beach agent Lisa Hale said there were plenty of older homes in Elanora and Palm Beach in the $600,000 to $700,000 range.
“You have a lot of older-style homes in Elanora but they are on good-sized blocks and flat blocks,” she said.
“For what you get, it’s still quite affordable.
“There’s definitely still good buying in that area.”
Vendor Norman Herfurth has his Elanora property on the market with a listing price of $600,000-$650,000.
He spent three months renovating the property at 15 Carilla Place, Elanora.
“It was quite a well-built house but just neglected,” he said.
“It’s a good location and it’s a good property to get your foot in the market.”
Ray White Oxenford agent Gail Norton warned prospective buyers to use median house prices for each suburb as a guide only.
In some suburbs, including Pimpama, Upper Coomera and parts of Ormeau, she said there were a mix of houses, acreage properties, units and townhouses, which often skewed the median.
