Kochie to property investors: Avoid “catastrophic” Gold and Sunshine coasts

Channel Seven’s Sunrise host David Koch and his wife, Libby, have put the boot into the struggling Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast markets by warning property investors to steer well clear of these two coast locations.

As part of their 2012 outlook the Kochs note “the property catastrophe underway in places like the Sunshine and Gold coasts” and “slowly deflating residential property values”.

“Property is all about demand and supply. Those regions which went through a construction boom in recent years are currently suffering the most,” the Kochs say.

This is by no means the first time the Kochs have warned investors of the perils of buying in Queensland’s tourism heartland.

In October last year, Kochie blogged that on the Gold and Sunshine coasts the oversupply of high-rise apartments was “nothing short of devastating”, with possible flow-on effects for Brisbane.

“Brisbane could turn in to a property nightmare with its declines being accentuated by the crash in nearby Gold and Sunshine coasts, where there is a massive oversupply of stock,” he says.

“In both regions there is four to five years’ worth of stock on the market as massive apartment blocks sold off the plan have failed to settle. Even just across the border at Tweed Heads is suffering. It will be years before there is any sort of recovery.”

Chinese buyers clearly disagree with the Kochs at least when it comes to the Gold Coast – according to research by Colliers, they upped their investments in Gold Coast real estate by 128% in the last year, spending around $66 million.

According to research by Lynda Campbell from Colliers, there about 1,2oo new apartments for sale on the Gold Coast – the lowest level since 2004.

This article first appeared on Property Observer.