The Gold Coast's office vacancy rate has fallen to 7.3 per cent according to the recent Property Council of Australia's office market report, the lowest of any market in the country, while residential data released in this month’s Ray White Now suggests population growth remains a central driver behind that tightening. Gold Coast house prices recorded annual growth of 4.0 per cent in July, and units 6.4 per cent, both continuing to rise at a time when Sydney and Melbourne have moved into annual decline, both markets down 3.4 per cent for houses and 0.5 per cent and 1.5 per cent for units respectively. While national housing conditions have softened through the mid-2026, the Gold Coast remains one of the few major markets still recording positive annual price growth across both houses and units.
That divergence lines up with a city whose underlying economy continues to expand. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Gold Coast's estimated resident population reached 691,230 in 2025, up 11,944 people over the year, a growth rate of 1.8 per cent, while more moderate than the 2.9 per cent pace recorded in 2023, remains well above the national average. An economic powerhouse where the Gross Regional Product now sits at $55.17 billion, representing over 10 per cent of Queensland's total output, generated across 352,310 local jobs and 83,266 local businesses.
New business formation data reinforces the picture. The Gold Coast recorded a net gain of 873 businesses in the March 2026 quarter, up from a net gain of 451 in the December quarter. This is not simply population growth translating into housing demand, it is translating into new business activity and those businesses need somewhere to work from. With almost no new office supply added to the Gold Coast over the past year, that steady stream of new business formation is being absorbed into an increasingly constrained pool of existing stock, particularly at the A-grade end of the market where availability is now genuinely limited.
The run into the 2032 Olympics is adding a further layer of momentum, with the infrastructure pipeline generating construction and professional services jobs which flows on to demand for the office based services that typically support projects of this scale.
Brisbane CBD tells a complementary story rather than a competing one. Vacancy there fell to 10.2 per cent from 11.8 per cent, the lowest major CBD vacancy rate in the country and confirmation that Queensland's office markets are tightening from multiple directions at once. Where Brisbane's improvement is being driven in part by major tenants relocating into the city centre, the Gold Coast's tightening looks more organic, a function of population inflow, business creation and an almost complete absence of new development, together placing sustained pressure on the limited stock available.
The residential price data adds useful context for why this pattern may continue. With Sydney and Melbourne now recording annual price falls and the Gold Coast still posting solid growth across both houses and units, the relative value and momentum on offer continues to support the city as a destination for both people and capital. If that keeps drawing residents and new business owners north, the office development pipeline does not respond, and the Olympic infrastructure build continues to add jobs through the back half of the decade, the Gold Coast's position as the tightest office market in the country looks likely to persist well into 2027 and beyond.
