The number of potential buyers inspecting property on the Sunshine Coast has increased to 63.4% in December 2022, a whopping 30% higher than in November 2022.
December’s Sight Unseen report by Australia’s leading virtual tours platform, Little Hinges, shows that the Sunshine Coast sits well above the national average with 63.9% of inspections from interstate compared with 28.4% for the rest of the country.
This data is supported by research from the Regional Australia Institute, the Sunshine Coast now accounts for the largest share of total net population flow from capital cities to regional Australia at 37%, which is significantly more than the regional NSW (26%) or VIC (23%).
Little Hinges CMO, Mike York, said, “the Sunshine Coast has taken the mantle from the Gold Coast to lead the country in the number of digital inspections that are undertaken outside the region.
“The last two years have seen buyers change the way they purchase property, as well as where they want to live.
“There’s been a push away from city centres to the regions, which is reflected in the high percentage of digital inspections we’re seeing from NSW and Victoria on properties located on the Sunshine Coast.”
“The ability to work from anywhere, the appeal of a sea change, and a considerably higher cost of living in the cities has forced buyers to consider other options,” said Mr York.
Core Logic’s latest reporting shows that South East Queensland’s Sunshine and Gold Coasts recorded some of the strongest peak-to-trough declines in value, making the areas more attractive for cashed up city buyers who are looking to downsize.
Mr York said, “We’re also seeing sellers hanging onto the recent highs of the property market, which means agents need to open up their listings to the widest possible audience of buyers to achieve high price points.
“Digital inspections allow buyers to inspect from anywhere, and in the case of the Sunshine Coast, those with the highest propensity to buy are coming from Sydney and Melbourne” he said.
Additionally, 7% of buyers are inspecting property on the Sunshine Coast from overseas, primarily from New Zealand, the UK and US.
The Sunshine Coast is not the only city seeing large percentages of interstate inspections. The Gold Coast continues to see almost half its inspections (42.4%) undertaken from outside Queensland. Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane are still seeing around 1 in 5 inspections being conducted from outside the state.
Little Hinges analysed over 300,000 virtual inspections for the Sight Unseen report released for December.
