Interstate buyers set their sights on the Sunshine Coast

July 14, 2023

With the highest demand for dwellings across all of Queensland, Sunshine Coast developers are fielding increased land enquiries as people look to enjoy coastal living and make their way up to Queensland in droves.

Queensland continues to lead the nation in population growth with a projection of 86,000 newcomers arriving from other states over the next four years.

Adam and Carla Williams – both originally from England – are now enjoying the Sunshine Coast lifestyle having made the move to the Sunshine Coast from Canberra in January with their three children who have just started at the recently opened Palmview State Primary School.

“I studied at Griffith University in Brisbane back in my mid 20s and I loved it so much. My very first experience of staying on the Sunshine Coast was going to Australia Zoo with some friends and I’ve never forgotten it,” Mrs Williams said.

“Adam and I actually met in Sydney on Australia Day and we’ve been together ever since. When our visas expired, we went back to England and decided to come live on the Coast – permanently.

It took the Williams’ seven years of living in England before they made their way back to Australia and ended up in Canberra for work opportunities.

“We didn’t come to Australia to live in Canberra, the end goal was to always live in Queensland – it’s taken a while but we’re finally here!” Mrs Williams said.

“We’re currently building a double storey home with five bedrooms at the Harmony community so that we have plenty of room for the kids and any family coming to visit – our parents are much happier to get to visit us in the tropics than down in Canberra.

With families like the Williams’ relocating to the Sunshine Coast, the local Palmview State Primary School was inundated with enquiries from interstate families looking to get their kids settled in for the new year .

“The deciding factor for us was the opening of Palmview State Primary School – the kids love it there and it was perfect timing that all the other kids were new and in the same boat having to make friends,” Mrs Williams said.

AVID Property Group General Manager Bruce Harper said its Harmony community had seen a surge in the number of buyers relocating from interstate.

“We’ve seen a lot of interest from people down south in New South Wales and Victoria who are eager to make a lifestyle change to Queensland,” Mr Harper said.

“Over the past financial year at Harmony, we have seen that the majority of our interstate buyers are coming from Victoria and New South Wales – with more than 34% of all interstate purchasers moving from Victoria, 26% from New South Wales and almost 13% from the ACT.

“There’s no denying that the Sunshine Coast is a beautiful place to be, and it’s incredible that in a time of crisis, Australians are re-evaluating their priorities in life and choosing the Coast as the place to be.

“This wonderful part of Queensland has shown great resilience – in defying the trends that we expected to see at the outset of the pandemic back in early 2020 and in coming together as a community when it mattered most.”

For years, the Sunshine Coast has been a popular region for Australians and the most recent forecasts predicts that the region will grow to more than 500,000 people by 2041 , with interstate migration contributing to this growth.

For more information on the growing Harmony community, visit www.harmony.avid.com.au.