The Sunshine Coast’s unprecedented growth only just begun

Recently, our COO Mal Cayley attended the Future Sunshine Coast event discussing the impact and opportunity presented by the 2032 Olympic Games.

Mal was in his element with lots of statistics, insights, data and analysis shared, and you can only imagine the amount of head nodding as the information revealed echoed the sentiments of our research report ‘The Sunshine Coast; The Future’.

What was great to hear was that across the panel of demographers, businesspeople, Olympians and community members was the united stance that we will achieve and benefit more if we come together.

While there is 10 years to prepare, it feels like a long time, but it will go so quickly, and we need to take action now to see this benefit our region. 

Simon Kuestenmacher founder of The Demographics Group who was a panellist at the event explained that there will be great challenges for the region as we face massive growth, which we’re already experiencing, but it will only be exacerbated by the preparations for the Olympics.

He shared his perspective on the ‘fried egg’ model of cities and regional hubs where the yolk was traditionally the city centre where all the activity took place and the residential areas sprawled from there, now we’re seeing a transition to more regional all-inclusive hubs of residential, entertainment and business – read more on this in our Property Market Supplement. Millennials are relocating in droves to experience better work life balance and the Sunshine Coast is an incredibly attractive region for relocators as we not only provide high level connectivity with the subsea broadband cable landing in our CBD, but we also provide world-class beaches just minutes away! Our new future focused CBD and other regional centres break the mould of the traditional fried egg model and we’re at the perfect point to capture the attention of the country and deliver what they desire for lifestyle and business. This is before we see increased demand with the Olympics preparations, hosting and legacy. 

What is happening now with relocating families is only going to be amplified once the state borders open and again with the ramp up of Olympic activity. We’re already on the growth journey and experiencing growing pains and it’s about to be supercharged.

Simon stressed that we need to prepare drastically for this growth, fast-tracking infrastructure to accommodate the needs of the people who live here currently and will in the future. He said “grow infrastructure at a higher rate than population” which is something that’s not happening right now. When we look at the check list of must haves and nice to haves for 2nd tier cities, there are few things our region needs to catch up on, and we can use the Olympics as a catalyst to bring those infrastructure items forward on the agenda.

Currently the Sunshine Coast is the 9th largest city in Australia. In 1954 we weren’t even in the top 20 but by 2024 we should be the 8th or 7th largest, and we need the infrastructure to support the city life that brings. 

The increase in the Sunshine Coast’s population was already grossly underestimated which is why we’re seeing such an increase in first time homelessness, a 0% vacancy rate on rentals and ever increasing house prices.  

For people under 55 years old, they will see the Sunshine Coast population double in their lifetime!

Some people predicted a population correction post-covid, but this will not happen on the Sunshine Coast. We need all levels of government plus the community and business community to come together to create solutions to maximise the opportunity and minimise the negative impact to come from the guaranteed growth. 

Another interesting point to come from the event was the recognition of the Sunshine Coast being a Gen X heavy town which is rare for any location. This is a positive because most of our Gen X population are generating significant and consistent incomes, are logic based but highly creative and entrepreneurial and this provides a great opportunity and community base upon which to grow from. The Sunshine Coast is the most entrepreneurial city in Australia and it’s people like us that can realise the true opportunity that the 2032 Olympics can bring. 

With the right people understanding what needs to be done and taking action early, we believe we’ll make the most of this once in a lifetime opportunity to take the Sunshine Coast to the next level.

Gina Rinehart contributed her growth insights as a panellist at the event explaining that the key element to getting the required infrastructure over the line was a reduction in government tape. With overcomplicated systems and restrictions being the anchor to our growth, the solution is a collaboration of all levels of government and community enabling clear pathways to success.

So, what does this mean to the residents or investors of the Sunshine Coast? There is great opportunity that will benefit the investor, the renter and the community with smart developments that deliver on the growing need.

Book in a free strategy session with our property coaches to understand how you can best leverage this opportunity to reach your financial goals.