Now is the perfect time to be looking at purchasing your first home or right-sizing into a residence.
Yes, really.
You’ve probably heard a lot over the last few weeks about recent interest rate rises, federal budget and tax legislation, and tighter foreign ownership rules putting off investors and combined to slow down the local property market with a slight drop in property values.
But the good news is the Gold Coast property market dynamics have made a slight shift away from the extreme seller’s conditions of recent years and are edging into more of a buyers’ market.
The strong interstate migration and the growing housing shortage have meant some really robust growth in the last few years, but they have had to compete with many buyers vying for the same property. Right now, there are fewer buyers, so those looking to purchase have more negotiating power and are able to negotiate some better terms favoured towards the buyer. Gold Coast median prices, as of July 2026 are $1.4 million for houses and around $966,000 for units.
Because buyer demand has moderated, vendors are having to adjust their price expectations along with how much time it takes to sell a property, leading to a transition toward more balanced, buyer-friendly negotiations.
As lots of buyers even those with pre-approval are sitting on their hands at the moment unsure of what to do, we have been able to purchase some quality properties for our clients as there’s a lot less competition.
Don’t miss out, we can help.
According to PropTrack data, Gold Coast house prices recorded a dip of about 0.46 per cent with units dropping 1.13 per cent over the month, making it the first price decrease in nearly four years.
Our first home buyer and ongoing owner-occupier clients have a genuine advantage now over investors, as the recent federal changes limit negative gearing on residential investments to new builds and significantly scale back the CGT discount on established properties.
We don’t doubt that investors will return to the Gold Coast market as it’s always been a popular choice for them – chasing capital growth along with healthy rental returns. The good news is: whilst everyone is figuring out the new landscape post-budget, there’s an opportunity not to be competing with investors.
If you are purchasing your first home or upgrading your existing home, the perfect time is NOW!
While not all Gold Coast suburbs are seeing a slow-down – the ever-popular beachside areas of Coolangatta, Tugun, Palm Beach, Currumbin, Burleigh and Mermaid Beach are still seeing strong demand – there appears to be a bit more wiggle room in some pockets.
Unlike a few months ago, when most properties were selling after the first couple of open-for-inspections, now is the ideal time to be right-sizing or buying your first home.
Plus, some vendors in these areas are looking to save money and limit the amount of fees they would have to pay a real estate agent – on top of their slightly decreased property values – and are more interested in going off-market (when a property sells without public advertising).
Earlier this month, we sourced an off-market home for first-home-buyers *Jessica and Michael – and Bella the cavoodle – who were looking for a two-or-three bedroom, two-bathroom townhouse with a small garden close to their work in healthcare and local government on the mid-Gold Coast – and they were willing to make some cosmetic updates such as painting the walls, replacing the blinds, and putting in a new stove and dishwasher.
They also wanted to move as quickly as possible, as the lease on the unit they rented was coming up for renewal in only three weeks’ time.
Our research revealed that the off-market vendors were interested in selling as they had committed to moving to a larger property, so they wanted a short settlement date.
It helped that the vendors were also realistic about the price they could achieve and understood that while they had originally purchased the home at auction, fewer homes in the entry-level to mid-price range up to $1.2 million are selling under the hammer right now. The vendors also appreciated that if they sold the property off-market, they didn’t have to conduct open homes, repaint the house prior to the sales campaign, or pay for photography and marketing.
As our clients are busy with full-on careers, very early on in the search, we helped them get their paperwork in order, so when the vendor agreed to them inspecting the property one evening after work, we could assist them to move quickly and make an offer.
Which they did! We walked through the townhouse with Jessica and Michael, who told us they loved the home and could see themselves living there, so we completed a thorough red flag check and made a fair offer, which the vendors accepted that night. The property went unconditional after all the due diligence checks, and Jessica and Michael have already chosen a new living room paint colour and are preparing to move in.
It was a win-win-win result. Our clients had a seamless and stress-free property search, the vendors achieved a realistic price, and we felt pretty good about achieving a successful result for Jessica and Michael.
Book a discovery call today and find out how we can assist you in buying your IDEAL home.
*Names were changed to protect privacy.
*Updated July 2026