GC apartment construction falling behind, report warns
New research warns the Gold Coast willl not meet demand for apartments, unless changes are made to enable construction.
A new Property Council of Australia report warns the Gold Coast would not meet future long-term apartment demand without improvements to risks associated with construction, including costs and approvals.
The Gold Coast Apartment Snapshot Report found the city registered 2431 new apartments and townhouses in 2025 – a 6.3 per cent decline from 2024, and short of targets under the South East Queensland Regional Plan.
And while a near-term pipeline had increased with 24 new project launches in 2025, around 60 per cent of apartments due for completion in 2028 and 2029 were considered at “moderate or high risk of delay or withdrawal”.
Property Council Queensland executive director Jess Caire said policy reform was required for the Gold Coast to overcome construction cost and feasibility hurdles.
“There are some positive signs in this year’s data, including an uplift in project launches through 2025 and stronger completion numbers forecast for 2026 and 2026,” Caire said.
Caire called for the Residential Activation Fund – a $2 billion infrastructure fund delivering water, stormwater, roads, sewage, power and telecommunications – to be made permanent.
Director of Urbis, the company that produced the report, Paul Riga said construction approvals were “volatile”.
“Delivery timeframes have lengthened, and a significant share of future stock is still exposed to delay or withdrawal,” he said.
“That means the real consequences of today’s constraints are likely to be felt over the next several years, both in the availability of new apartments for purchasers and in the broader housing market.”
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Cost pressures and labour constraints were taking a hammer to project feasibility, Caire said, with the report also finding the Gold Coast’s unemployment rate of 3.4 per cent reflected workforce shortages across the sector.
“Unfortunately, these are exactly the kinds of market conditions that make apartment projects harder to get out of the ground,” Caire said
The number of approved projects in the pipeline for the Gold Coast fell from 1700 apartments last year to 850 this year, the report found. Only one project is currently under construction, due for completion in 2028.
The state government was contacted for comment.
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