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LJ Hooker has sharpened its Gold Coast focus with company chairman L Janusz Hooker unveiling today a $5 million super office in Nerang purpose-built to cater to the market’s rising property appetite.
The new LJ Hooker Nerang office is the creation of principal Shane Colquhoun, who has expanded his operations following significant year-on-year growth.
Mr Hooker said that the Gold Coast was maturing through fast-paced population growth and was perfectly poised to capture China’s investment interest.
“Dynamic principals like Shane are investing significantly in the city,” Mr Hooker said.
“With the Commonwealth Games around the corner, the city has experienced a surge in new public infrastructure which has seen it evolve.
“Private investment has followed, and there are billions of dollars in innovative developments planned and underway from the Surfers Paradise Esplanade to the Hinterland.”
Mr Hooker said that the key ingredients that propelled the Gold Coast’s profile in the late 1980s and early 2000s — lifestyle and affordability — had again come to the fore.
“I see the Gold Coast much like Miami in the United States. Miami had experienced steady growth since the early '90s but is now experiencing a surge as people, who are working remotely from their office, choose it over having to battle cities like New York.
“That’s where I see the Gold Coast in the future for Australia."
Demand
Mr Hooker said that these factors are “hitting home” to buyers in Sydney and Melbourne, where house prices have risen by 64.9 per cent and 34.2 per cent, respectively, in the last five years.
“The Gold Coast is tipped to be home to 1.2 million residents by 2050, which is why it’s a key target for growth.
“Purpose-built super offices like LJ Hooker Nerang home in on what customers want from one of life’s most significant experiences: selling or securing their next home.”
Mr Colquhoun, who is the REB Awards' Regional Principal of the Year for 2017, said that the city’s sentiment was the most buoyant he had seen since opening LJ Hooker Nerang almost 14 years ago.
“Real estate is a high-touch business, and to be progressive you need to have innovative minds pushing boundaries,” Mr Colquhoun said.
“While other brands are scaling back their ‘shop fronts’ to cut costs, this is often at the expense of service levels.
“We have the foresight to continue to develop and invest in our people and our customers by looking at global, innovative new design trends and technology to improve experiences right throughout the real estate process."
Growth
Mr Hooker also said that the Gold Coast is likely to be popular with China’s “booming” middle class, which is growing at an “incomparable” speed, according to a 2010 OECD report.
“China’s middle class will go from being 12 per cent of its population to 73 per cent of its population by 2030 — that’s another 850 million residents in that bracket,” Mr Hooker said.
“Chinese love Australian property and the Gold Coast is very accessible.
“Another advantage is the city’s diversifying economy, with sectors like education lifting its profile against the traditional pillars of tourism and development.
"Australia’s education is very attractive to the Chinese, and the Gold Coast’s civic and education leaders recognise this.”
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