GAMES FACTOR 'TO LINGER LONGER FOR COAST PROPERTY'

THE Commonwealth Games factor is likely to linger for the Gold Coast well after 2018, according to new research conducted by PRDnationwide.

The real estate group, which has tracked the sales performances of both the Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games villages in Sydney and Melbourne respectively, expects similar gains for the Gold Coast.

"There was very little conclusive research on this subject previously," says PRDnationwide national research manager Dr Diaswati Mardiasmo.

"We really dug into the data to see what happened in the past and what that might equate to in the Gold Coast region.

"By looking at case studies of similar sporting event-related development in the greater Sydney and Melbourne regions surrounding past Games, we were able to forecast how the Gold Coast property market will be impacted not only prior to and during the year of the Games, but also in the years following the Games,"

Mardiasmo says the Sydney Olympics athletes' village development played a significant role in the growth of the area surrounding Olympic Park in the city's inner west.

After the Games in 2000, the village was reconfigured to create about 900 townhouses and 700 apartments which proved popular with first home buyers.

"This led to a surge in transaction activity in the area, with Newington and surrounding suburbs sales numbers rising nearly 58 per cent from 2000 to 2001. As recently as 2011, 561 residential sales were recorded by the Olympic Park Authority."

Mardiasmo says Melbourne similarly saw strong growth around the Commonwealth Games village at Parkville in 2006.

"The high demand and undersupply of property in the area led to a successful development, with transactions rising over 33 per cent in Parkville and the surrounding suburbs between 2006 and 2007.

"Much of this growth can be attributed to the sale of residential properties in the Village, with 85 sales from the developer being recorded in 2007. Growth in the area increased at a combined rate of 9.52 per cent over the two years after the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

"What this research proves is that Commonwealth Games developments have had a positive impact on the property market of the suburb and its surrounds, both during the year of the Games and long after the Games have finished.

"The Gold Coast market recap for 2014 clearly identifies that houses in almost all of the suburbs surrounding the 2018 Commonwealth Games have witnessed median price growth over the past 12 months.

"The central suburbs of Southport and Ashmore have been some of the strongest performers witnessing combined average growth of 11 per cent and 10.2 per cent respectively.

"Combined average vendor discounting is the lowest it's been in two years and this suggests buyer competition is increasing."