100% foreign buyer settlement in Stanley Ho's Élevé project at Palm Meadows
The Élevé project at Palm Meadows has recently settled all 61 apartments sold in its first stage for more than $15 million.
Élevé which has a second stage in the pipeline was developed by Hungtat Worldwide, associated with Macau casino tycoon Dr Stanley Ho and his wife Angela Leong.
Élevé's 100% settlement rate was achieved within 45 days.
It included all apartments sold to foreign buyers, who represented about 30% of purchasers.
It was an extraordinary result, Knight Frank agent Chris Litfin said, adding he had pinpointed the Gold Coast suburb of Carrara - which took centre stage during the opening and closing ceremonies of the Commonwealth Games - as a likely gold medal performer in property sales and growth over the next two years.
Litfin, who heads the agency's Queensland project marketing division, noted Élevé's rental apartments are achieving typical returns of around 6% and in some cases above 7%, with 254 applications received for the initial 33 apartments available to rent.
Hungtat has previously been behind the Gold Coast's international award-winning The Wave tower in Broadbeach and Sydney's exclusive Kirribilli Grande community.
Market analysts Urbis recently found the Gold Coast's coastal fringe precinct, which is centred around Carrara, was the most active area for apartment sales in the city in the December quarter, recording 77 sales for an average of $537,0.
Litfin says the reason for this activity is growing demand from residents who live in and around Carrara who want to downsize from their family homes to an apartment.
"Carrara has the right type of apartment offering to meet the market both now and into the future, and that's why it is outperforming other areas," he said.
"There are plenty of people who live in the coastal fringe area who don't want to move to a smaller apartment near the beach - they want to stay in their neighbourhood and live in a boutique building with larger apartments on a big, abundantly landscaped site.
"Carrara is known as a 'green belt' suburb, so projects like Élevé, which are surrounded by parklands and golf courses, appeal strongly to buyers who want a resort-style lifestyle in an area that is still highly accessible.
"Carrara is just a short drive from the beach and the Robina and Southport CBDs, and new apartments there are geared towards owner occupiers because developers see the appeal of delivering a premium project in the coastal fringe as opposed to lesser liveability near the beach where sites are smaller and more expensive."