.jpg)
Short-stay income ahead of every capital city, house prices up about two-thirds in five years, rentals almost impossible to find, and 14.4 million visitors a year. Here’s the data behind Gold Coast property investment in 2026, compared with 11 other Australian markets.
Ask most Australian investors where they’d buy and you’ll hear Brisbane, Perth or Adelaide. The Gold Coast often gets filed under “lifestyle”. The numbers say it deserves a closer look. It’s the one major market where you can earn from holiday guests, tourists and long-term tenants, in a city that’s still growing fast. If you already know you want to buy here, our comparison of the best Gold Coast suburbs for holiday letting shows where the numbers are strongest.
1. Australia’s holiday capital, in numbers
The Gold Coast had 14.4 million visitors in 2025, who spent a record $8.9 billion. That makes it the largest holiday market in Queensland and the third-largest in Australia (Experience Gold Coast, from Tourism Research Australia data). International visitor nights hit a record 10.3 million, up 28% in a year.
Those visitors need somewhere to stay. AirDNA tracks 6,872 active short-stay listings on the Gold Coast, more than Perth or Adelaide and roughly one for every 100 residents. Of the 12 markets we compared, only Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane have more. It’s also why Airbnb management on the Gold Coast is a mature, competitive business, and why good management makes a real difference to results.
2. Short-stay income: the Gold Coast vs 11 markets
This is where the Gold Coast stands apart. The average Gold Coast short-stay listing earned $71,022 in the past 12 months. That’s more than every capital city: 20% more than Sydney, 34% more than Brisbane and 53% more than Melbourne. Among the markets we compared, only Byron Bay, a much smaller and pricier holiday town, earned more.
| Market | Annual revenue | Change, 1 yr | Nightly rate | Occupancy | Active listings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Byron Bay | $80,168 | +8.2% | $473 | 56% | 1,614 |
| Gold Coast | $71,022 | +6.1% | $334 | 66% | 6,872 |
| Sunshine Coast | $70,154 | +11.0% | $371 | 60% | 6,019 |
| Cairns | $59,441 | −0.8% | $280 | 66% | 1,984 |
| Sydney | $59,217 | +5.3% | $274 | 67% | 15,699 |
| Hobart | $57,722 | +12.9% | $254 | 67% | 1,022 |
| Perth | $55,736 | +12.1% | $222 | 74% | 4,477 |
| Brisbane | $52,811 | +7.3% | $237 | 66% | 8,529 |
| Darwin | $52,530 | +11.1% | $254 | 70% | 756 |
| Adelaide | $52,016 | +8.6% | $252 | 62% | 4,178 |
| Melbourne | $46,481 | +6.9% | $229 | 61% | 19,197 |
| Canberra | $42,243 | +8.1% | $191 | 65% | 1,997 |
Source: AirDNA market data, all active short-term rental listings in each AirDNA market, 12 months to October 2026, accessed 2 November 2026. "Canberra" is AirDNA’s Australian Capital Territory market. Market boundaries are AirDNA’s and may differ from council boundaries.
Two things drive that lead. Gold Coast guests pay more, at an average of $334 a night (and daily pricing that moves with demand captures more of it), well above Sydney ($274) and Brisbane ($237). And they keep coming year-round, with occupancy of 66%, in line with most capital cities. The Sunshine Coast is the closest rival, at almost identical revenue with a smaller market.
Houses do even better. The average Gold Coast house on Airbnb earned $95,646 in the same period, up 9.1%, at $567 a night (AirDNA). See how the numbers change suburb by suburb in our Gold Coast suburb guide, from Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach to Mermaid Beach, Miami, Burleigh Heads, Palm Beach and Coolangatta. Own a house? See how we run holiday home management.
3. Price growth: how the Gold Coast compares
Income is only half of an investment. The other half is what the property is worth when you sell. Over the past five years, Gold Coast house values have grown by about 10.9% a year, roughly 68% in total, and about 150% over ten years (HtAG Analytics, houses, to June 2026). That puts the Gold Coast alongside Australia’s strongest growth markets of the past five years, and far ahead of Sydney and Melbourne.
| Market | 5 years | 10 years | Last 12 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| Perth | +74.0% | +97.6% | +10.1% |
| Gold Coast (houses) | ≈ +68% | ≈ +150% | +13.9% |
| Adelaide | +59.3% | +104.3% | +6.5% |
| Brisbane | +55.4% | +105.3% | +5.9% |
| Darwin | +30.7% | +33.8% | +11.9% |
| Hobart | +8.4% | +90.2% | +7.0% |
| Canberra | +3.1% | +55.8% | −1.6% |
| Sydney | +1.9% | +39.5% | −7.0% |
| Melbourne | −5.5% | +24.3% | −6.2% |
Capital cities: Cotality Home Value Index, all dwellings, to 30 September 2026. Gold Coast: HtAG Analytics, houses, to 30 June 2026 (5 and 10-year figures converted from annual compound growth). Cotality doesn’t publish a separate Gold Coast index, so the Gold Coast figures use a different source and cover houses only. Treat the comparison as a guide.
The past few months have been softer. Rising interest rates have cooled every market, and Cotality’s regional Queensland index, which includes the Gold Coast, fell 2.5% over the September quarter. It’s still up 6.3% on a year ago, while Sydney and Melbourne are down 7.0% and 6.2% over the same year.
4. Long-term rents: the safety net
If short stays aren’t right for a property, or aren’t allowed, the long-term market is strong too. The median Gold Coast house rents for about $932 a week, up 4.7% in a year, and the vacancy rate was just 1.5% in June 2026 (HtAG Analytics). Tenants are competing for homes, not the other way round.
The catch is yield. At today’s prices, a long-term lease returns a gross yield of only about 2.8% on a Gold Coast house. That’s where short stays change the picture. The average Gold Coast house on Airbnb grosses about twice what a long-term lease does ($95,646 against about $48,500 a year). Running costs are higher too, so the gap after costs is smaller, but it’s often the difference between a property that pays its own way and one that doesn’t.
That matters more than ever under the new tax rules. From July 2027, losses on established properties bought after 12 May 2026 can no longer be offset against your salary. Read our guide to the negative gearing changes.
5. What keeps demand growing
- People keep moving here. The Gold Coast added almost 12,000 residents in 2024-25, to 691,230. It’s Australia’s third-largest local government area and among Queensland’s fastest-growing by numbers (ABS via Queensland Government Statistician’s Office).
- The 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Gold Coast is set to host events at existing venues plus temporary venues at Broadbeach and Southport, a new Gold Coast Arena in Southport and a satellite athletes’ village (City of Gold Coast). The world’s attention, and the infrastructure that comes with it, lands right in the short-stay heartland.
- International visitors are coming back fast. Record international visitor nights in 2025, with UK visitor nights up 83% and Europe more than doubling.
- Year-round demand. Beaches, theme parks, events, a university, a major hospital precinct and corporate travel keep bookings coming outside school holidays, including mid-term stays in Southport.
6. The risks to weigh up
No market is a sure thing, and the Gold Coast has its own risks:
- Prices are high and have dipped. Values are off their May 2026 peak as interest rates rise. Buying well matters more than buying fast.
- Not every property can be a holiday rental. Short stays often need council approval depending on the zone. Check before you buy, using our Gold Coast Airbnb rules guide.
- Building rules and letting pools. Some buildings have letting pools or older schemes with restrictions. See can a body corporate ban Airbnb.
- Higher running costs. Short stays mean management, cleaning, maintenance, furnishing and platform fees. The gross figures above are before those costs.
- Safety rules. Every Queensland home needs interconnected smoke alarms by 1 January 2027. See our smoke alarm guide for holiday rentals.
- Seasonality. Income peaks in summer and school holidays. A plan for the quiet months, and pricing that adjusts every day, makes a big difference.
7. How investors are making it work
The investors doing best on the Gold Coast treat it as a mixed market, not a pure holiday one:
- Buy where short stays are approved, such as towers in the Centre and High density zones around Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach, or houses with an existing approval.
- Furnish for guests, not tenants. Presentation drives nightly rates and reviews. We give free furnishing advice and handle professional photos and listings.
- Mix holiday and mid-term stays: holiday guests in peak season, furnished stays of a month or more for workers and families when it’s quiet.
- Keep long-term leasing as the fallback. With 1.5% vacancy, it’s a strong one.
- Run the numbers after all costs, not on headline revenue. A free rental appraisal does this for any address.
- Look after the guests. Reviews are what keep occupancy high. Our guest care runs 24/7.
That’s exactly how we manage holiday homes and apartments for our owners.
How we manage Airbnb and holiday homes on the Gold Coast
Hauz is a Gold Coast short-term rental manager. We look after apartments and holiday homes from Surfers Paradise to Coolangatta for owners who want the returns of short stays without running them day to day.
We handle everything. We set prices daily, list your property on Airbnb and Booking.com with professional photos, and look after guests 24/7, from the first message to check-out. Our cleaners clean to hotel standard and supply the linen, and our trades handle maintenance. When it’s quiet, we fill the gaps with furnished stays of a month or more. It’s all included for 15% all in, with no setup fee, and you can block out your own dates whenever you want.
We take a maximum of 50 properties so each one gets proper attention, and guests rate our homes 4.94 on average on Airbnb. Buying here, or already own a property? Get a free rental appraisal to see what it could earn after every fee, or contact us and talk to Jakub on 0420 548 640.
General information only, as at November 2026. It isn’t financial advice. Past performance doesn’t guarantee future returns. Short-stay figures are market averages; your property’s result depends on its size, location, presentation, approvals and management.
Sources
- AirDNA market data, Gold Coast and 11 comparison markets, accessed 2 November 2026
- Cotality Home Value Index, October 2026 release
- HtAG Analytics: Gold Coast property market
- Experience Gold Coast: $8.9 billion in visitor spending in 2025
- Queensland Government Statistician’s Office: Population growth, regional Queensland, 2024-25
- City of Gold Coast: Olympic and Paralympic Games Brisbane 2032
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.svg)