The latest quarterly report by Colliers International highlighted Surfers Paradise, Southport and Labrador as hot spots in 2010, with house and unit prices set to soar between seven and 10 per cent.

Helensvale, Varsity Lakes, Robina and Tugun, located close to major shopping centres and the Pacific Motorway, also made the list of best buys.

Colliers research director Aaron Maskrey said Gold Coast property prices were set to rise rapidly this year, as the beachside region bounced back in the wake of the global financial crisis.

“After the challenging year of 2009… due to the global economic conditions impacting on the Gold Coast property market, hot spots for 2010 will focus on areas where recovery will most likely thrive,” he said.

But property analyst Michael Matusik said the price recovery on the Gold Coast could be limited, as the market had performed as poorly as expected in 2009.

“The Gold Coast market, and in particular Surfers Paradise, has been getting a caning of late,” Mr Matusik said.

“There is no question that the Gold Coast is doing it tougher than the rest, with our data [which is based on cleaned up resales] showing that apartment values fell nine per cent during 2008 and a further four per cent last year,” he said.

“According to the latest Queensland government valuations issued in March, ocean-front land has fallen by 30 per cent on the coast.

“But ocean-front apartment values in Surfers Paradise at least actually rose last year – up by 8.9 per cent.”

Mr Maskrey said the property compass has pointed towards suburbs to be serviced by the Gold Coast’s planned Rapid Transit System, although the first stage of the $949 million project is not due to be completed until 2014.

Median prices in each of the listed hot spots ranged from $320,000 for units to $515,000 for houses at the end of 2009 according to the report.

But Mr Maskrey said the completion of the Rapid Transit System and developments in Surfers Paradise, including the Soul and Hilton towers, could soon see property prices jump up to 10 per cent as local residents are attracted back to the tourist hub.

However, local buyers will face competition from foreign investors.

During December and January, the Juniper Group reportedly secured seven sales amounting to $10 million at its 77-storey, $850 million Soul development in the heart of Surfers Paradise, for Chinese, Indonesian and New Zealand investors.

Overseas buyers injected $407 million into the state’s residential market last financial year, of which 45 per cent was spent on the Gold Coast.

Mr Maskrey said first-home buyers may find better value for money in Helensvale where townhouses and units were priced in the $300′s.

“Helensvale is home to a Westfield Shopping Centre and has easy access to the M1 and a railway station,” he said.

Coomera will move from back yards and double garages to high rises of up to 15 stories as council moves to create a Surfers Paradise in the ‘burbs.

The Gold Coast City Council plan would make the ‘family belt’ at east Coomera one of the city’s most densely populated suburbs.

The council’s ‘new urbanism’ design allows up to 200 dwellings per hectare (10 per hectare is normal for suburbia) which is a similar density to Surfers Paradise.

Coomera is being settled by young families who want bigger, affordable blocks. But with population projections of up to 350,000 people in Coomera by 2012, the council has to find new ways to squeeze them in.

‘Surfers Paradise in the ‘burbs’ is planned for the bush around the train station.

Local councillor Donna Gates said the State Government required the density to accommodate the huge numbers of people moving to the Coast, especially to the northern end.

“We need to accommodate them within the urban footprint and I don’t see how else it can be achieved.”

Cr Gates said the region would be well serviced, with council’s four-year capital works plan including a community centre, pool and library.

“We’re looking at the west (Coomera) now because that’s where people are now. But it’s all there in the forward planning.”

Buildings between two and six storeys will constitute most of the high rises but some as tall as 15 storeys will be allowed between the M1 and the station, said Cr Gates.

However developers say families will not want to live in high rises without beaches, shopping centres, restaurants and entertainment nearby.

Midwood Report author Bill Morris said east Coomera would have the same density as Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach — without the amenity — and in an area where people wanted bigger blocks.

“They are imposing this vision on east Coomera which may have the effect of ceasing development,” he said.

“It’s just wall-to-wall high density.”

The Coomera Town Centre Structural Plan revolves around a town centre near the railway line close to land owned by the State Government for future facilities such as a TAFE or a hospital.

Around that, the council wants high-density residential of up to 200 dwellings per hectare and for people to rely on local public transport.

Moving out from the town centre, housing will become less dense — between 25 and 150 dwellings per hectare — and include townhouses and average-sized blocks.

The REIQ March quarter median unit and townhouse prices show not only steady prices in most areas but also modest increases in sales numbers.

Demand from first home buyers continues to underpin this segment of the market.

“Units and townhouses are remaining popular due to their affordability and because they are often more centrally located,” REIQ chairman Peter McGrath said.

Sales numbers were up in Brisbane and on the Gold and Sunshine coasts particularly, while median prices were on the increase in Townsville, Mackay, Gladstone and the Sunshine Coast.

While the top end of the residential house market has struggled over recent times, there are signs that this segment of the unit and townhouse market is showing signs of life, particularly on the Gold Coast.

“The top end of the market is becoming increasingly popular as buyers take advantages of some good opportunities,” he said.

Units and townhouses in prime Gold Coast waterfront suburbs such as Broadbeach, Burleigh Heads, Tugun and Surfers Paradise all recorded very healthy median price increases over the period.

“These waterfront locations have staged a comeback. There has been a good volume of sales in response to some very good buying opportunities,” he said.

“This segment of the unit and townhouse market has adjusted to the market conditions and is certainly reaping the benefits.”

Over the March quarter, 2.3 per cent of all unit and townhouse sales in Queensland were for more than $1 million compared to 1 per cent of all house sales on land less than 2,400sqm over the same period.

SOARING rents are causing major pain for tenants trapped in a private rental crisis.

The Gold Coast is now Queensland’s most expensive place to rent a house.

The cost of renting a two-bedroom unit has jumped from $310 to $340 a week in the past year, a hike of 9.6 per cent.

The rent on a three-bedroom house has climbed from $360 to $390, an increase of 8.3 per cent, in the year from September 2007 to 2008.

Releasing the data from the Rental Tenancies Tribunal yesterday, Housing Minister Robert Schwarten said renters were doing it tough around the state.

“Skyrocketing rents, coupled with record low vacancy rates, demonstrate that the private rental market is in crisis,” he said.

It is now cheaper to rent in Brisbane than on the Gold Coast.

The cost of renting a three-bedroom house in Brisbane rose from $325 to $360, a hike of 10.8 per cent, while a two-bedroom unit rose 13 per cent from $305 to $345 a week.

“The pain is widespread but major centres … have seen the cost of renting skyrocket,” said Mr Schwarten.

Real Estate Institute of Queensland Gold Coast chairman Peter McGrath said there was no sign of the rental crisis easing.

“The reason rents are more expensive on the Gold Coast than in Brisbane is, firstly, that our sales market volumes slowed quicker than in Brisbane, putting pressure on the rental market,” he said.

“Secondly, investors pulled out of the Gold Coast market late last year, took their profits and decided to sit on their hands to wait and see what would happen to the property market. That left an undersupply of rental product.

“Tenants don’t like to hear it but the rental market is dependent on supply and demand.

“There is not enough housing out there to keep up with the demand for housing so the rental market gets squeezed at the other end.”

Mr McGrath said an undersupply of housing on the Coast, a huge built-up demand for rentals and continuing strong migration levels from interstate and overseas meant the rental market would stay tight.

He said the rental vacancy rate had now dropped to under 2 per cent.

“I don’t think the rental situation is going to change for some time yet, there is still too much uncertainty, and it will be quite some time before the investors come back,” he said.

David Stringer, from DJ Stringer Property Services, which has one of the largest rent rolls on the Coast, said he hoped there might be some relief for renters from the Federal Government’s first home buyer incentives announced yesterday.

“If that helps to get more first home buyers out of the rental market and into buying their own property it will take some pressure off the rental market,” he said.

Australian Property Monitors is predicting rents will rise by up to 50 per cent in most capital cities over the next four years, while economic forecaster BIS Shrapnel believes the average cost of renting will climb higher than the cost of buying in 2008/09 and 2009/10.