From next Tuesday, a new early morning train will run between Varsity Lakes and Brisbane Airport, adding an extra 2250 seats weekly between the two centres and helping ease congestion on peak-hour services.

It follows a major review of public transport and is the first stage of a package that includes a revamp of bus services, particularly across the southern Gold Coast.

The new $11 million, six-carriage train will leave Varsity Lakes at 4.34am each day from next Tuesday and arrive in Brisbane before 6am and Brisbane Airport before 6.30am.

From late June, connecting bus services will run from Gold Coast Airport at Coolangatta to Varsity Lakes, meaning, for the first time, passengers can travel from the NSW border to Brisbane city and the airport, with just one change.

As well, there will be extra feeder buses for key hubs, more services on the western side of the rail line to meet the needs of schoolchildren, and new routes into expanding residential areas.

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.

The report found $4.54 billion of developments identified in the region — which takes in Robina, Varsity Lakes, Burleigh Heads, Burleigh Waters, Burleigh West, Elanora, Reedy Creek, Palm Beach and Tallebudgera — were under construction, with the remaining $2.561 billion in the planning stages.

Despite the significant activity, the research, compiled by Colliers’ research manager Lynda Campbell, found the total dollar value of development had dipped slightly from the $7.338 billion recorded last year, but was still up substantially on the $6.214 billion identified in 2007.

Spending on infrastructure, which continues to account for the largest slice of development in the region, had also marginally decreased from the $3 billion reported 12 months ago, with about $2.75 billion of projects either in progress or on the drawing board.

The total value of apartment and retirement projects also dropped, from $816 million to $738 million and $195 million to $170 million respectively.

On the other hand, spending on housing development increased from $1.47 billion to $1.51 billion, mixed-use projects from $1.18 billion to $1.26 billion and commercial development from $415 million to $671 million.

Colliers’ Gold Coast director in charge Stewart Gilchrist said the majority of construction in the region was concentrated in the fast-growing suburbs of Robina and Varsity Lakes.

“These suburbs are at the geographical heart of the Gold Coast, but they have become much more than that, staking a claim as one of the city’s prime centres for business and entertainment, and a sought-after residential address,” he said.

“Major road and rail improvements will support this position, making the area even more accessible.”

Several major infrastructure projects in progress include an $8.3 million upgrade to Christine Avenue, the first phase of a $920 million rail extension from Robina to Coolangatta, $287.7 million expansion of Robina Hospital and the $6 million Robina Police Station.

There are also major infrastructure improvements in the pipeline, including a $75 million upgrade to Burleigh Connection Road, $22.6 million expansion to Robina Library, a new $9.7 million Australian Technical College, and upgrades to the motorway and interchanges from Nerang to Varsity Lakes.

Ms Campbell said the $1 billion Varsity Lakes, the $500 million The Glades in Robina and the $440 million The Observatory at Reedy Creek were the largest residential projects in the region.

“Many of the big tracts of land have now been developed, so we are seeing plans being put forward for smaller residential projects, with an end value of about $30 million to $40 million,” she said.

“There is also a number of smaller apartment projects either started or in the planning stages, particularly in Palm Beach where older properties are increasingly making way for this style of development.”

Ms Campbell said mixed-use and commercial developments were also a major focus in the area, spearheaded by projects like the $1 billion Varsity Lakes and the $300 million Robina Town Centre shopping centre expansion.

“Robina and Varsity Lakes have been carefully masterplanned and, as such, both mixed-use and commercial development has been integrated into the design of the area to create a place where people can live, work and be entertained all from the one postcode,” said Ms Campbell.

THE rate of new apartment sales on the Gold Coast and northern NSW has jumped 52 per cent in the past three months, Colliers research has revealed.

According to the Colliers International Gold Coast Apartment Report, released this week, 117 new apartments were sold in the March quarter, compared with 77 the previous quarter.

Colliers International director of project marketing Brinton Keath said several factors had started to encourage investors back to the market.

“In the last quarter the variable home loan rate settled around a historical low of 5.85 per cent and vendors began to meet the market in terms of price,” he said.

“However, what made the most impact to sales this quarter was the surge in inquiry from Brisbane and interstate-based investors looking for Gold Coast apartments, which converted into sales.

“These out-of-towners clearly recognised the value of recent reviews in pricing of apartments by developers and the true value they now represent compared to 12 months ago.

“That said, although activity has picked up of late, the new apartment market is not yet out of the woods.

“Once locals return to the marketplace, coupled with the interstate investor market, we will see a solid lift in the quarterly results. We are just at the beginning of the market turning.”

The report shows the city’s supply of new apartments has tumbled, from 7.3 years in December to 4.6 years three months later.

Apartments in Southport and Labrador captured the lion’s share of sales with 51 transactions, followed by those in Robina/Varsity Lakes, Burleigh Heads and Carrara, with 22 deals.

Units in the beachside hubs of Surfers Paradise, Chevron Island and Main Beach ranked third with 16 sales, just outperforming the North Shore — stretching from Runaway Bay to Hope Island — which registered 15 sales.

Southern beachside apartment projects (with 10 sales), northern NSW (two sales) and Broadbeach (one sale) accounted for the remainder.

The average sale price of a new apartment during the quarter was just over $825,000.

Mr Keath said the latest report had identified a buyer trend towards completed buildings, which accounted for 64 per cent of sales.

“The popularity of Brighton on the Broadwater, Southport Central, Circle on Cavill and Allisee this quarter is evidence of this,” he said.

“The March quarter has also seen highrise sales almost double the number of those recorded during the December quarter.

“This is indicative of immediate to short-term needs of buyers. However, over the coming months, we are expecting off the plan investments to come back in favour as consumer confidence continues to improve and buyers take a long-term view.”

The high rise sector saw the highest number of sales across the board, with 61 transactions recorded in 31 projects for a combined total of $60.7 million. Meriton’s Brighton on Broadbeach’s Marina tower was the top performer with 16 sales.

The medium-rise sector saw 34 sales over 25 projects with a gross value of $24.2 million with the best performing project Stockland’s waterfront Allisee at Hollywell, with 11 sales.

There was a wide range of price points, with sales from about $500,000 to $2.6 million for a penthouse.

The low-rise sector remained relatively static during the March quarter with sales numbers, average prices and gross sales value around the levels of the December quarter. A total of 22 new low-rise apartments were sold during the March quarter, which is up slightly from the 18 sold in the three months to December, 2008.

Colliers’ Gold Coast research manager Lynda Campbell, who compiled the report, said Proud Central at Labrador, a proposed Southport low-rise development, was the only new project to enter the March quarter report.

“With 18 apartments having an average price of $400,000, Proud Central is catering for the first home buyer and investor,” she said.