Aussie Home Loans founder and executive chairman, John Symond pictured discussing housing affordability at the 2016 Titans of Industry Forum at Bond University. Picture: David Clark

That’s the view of Aussie Home Loans founder John Symond who was on the Gold Coast yesterday to open stores at Robina and Burleigh and to contribute to a panel discussion at Bond University on housing affordability.

The high-profile businessman said the Gold Coast had developed a reputation in past decades for being a ‘no-go zone’ due to wild fluctuations in price but he believed that had changed.

“In the 1980s and 1990s it developed a reputation as a no-go zone because it was a wild ride but that has settled right down,” Mr Symond said.

“The pendulum is not swinging anywhere near as much as in the past.”

Mr Symond said the Gold Coast property market was now linked to a more stable economy, based on a diverse range of industries including education and health and an increasing infrastructure spend related to the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

He said the market had matured with prices not out of control but rather steadily rising.

“Prices are not going through the roof,’ he said.

SURFERS IS NEW INVESTOR PARADISE

“I see it as a healthy increase which is attractive to people looking for affordable property and investors.

“It (the market) is going ahead but not skyrocketing.”

RP Data senior research analyst, Cameron Kusher talks about housing affordability at the 2016 Titans of Industry Forum at Bond University. Picture: David ClarkSource:News Limited

Mr Symonds said first-home buyers on the Gold Coast were in a much better position, compared to Sydney and Melbourne.

According to CoreLogic RP Data the median house sale price on the Gold Coast in 2015 was $565,000 (up 7 per cent) compared to $875,000 in Sydney (up 15.9 per cent) and $589,000 in Melbourne (up 7.1 per cent).

“You are far better getting into first-home ownership on the Gold Coast than you are in Sydney and Melbourne,” he said.

PIECE OF HEAVEN IN PARADISE WATERS

CoreLogic RP Data senior research analyst Cameron Kusher, who was on the panel at Bond University, said it was difficult to know if the Gold Coast had left the boom and bust cycle behind, given how the property market fell during and after the Global Financial Crisis.

However Mr Kusher said in general terms the city was better positioned to withstand the market fluctuations seen the past.

“As a region gets bigger and more diversified in terms of the economy, you are less susceptible to boom and bust,” he said.

Mr Kusher said the region was experiencing moderate levels of growth off the back of weak conditions in the past.

“That type of growth that you want,” he said.