Is Pimpama Australia’s fastest growing suburb?

THE suburb that sprung up from the Queensland farming countryside – sandwiched between the M1 and the river of the same name – has seen its population grow from 3,500 in 2013 to more than 25,000.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics crowned it the country’s fastest growing suburb in 2021.

And there’s no sign of this slice of south-east Queensland slowing down.

It’s been in the top four fastest growing suburbs in InfoTrack’s Market Update for three quarters in a row.

When the new railway station opens linking it directly into the $5.4 billion Cross River Rail project, significantly quicker journey times into the CBD look certain to spark an influx of potential investors.

None of this comes as a surprise to Jeff Horsey, who moved out of Brisbane to set up his law firm in the 4209 postcode 17 years ago.

Speaking to Australian Conveyancer about the conveyancing side of the business, he said: “Pimpama’s seen a growth spurt that’s been going on for the better part of a decade or more.

“When I opened this firm here in 2008, all my friends from Brisbane and Southport said why the hell are you opening a firm there?

“I’d moved to Pimpama, to be honest – I commuted for a while running a firm in Brisbane and then went ‘no, this is a place that’s happening. This will do me and hung my shingle out down here’.”

Growth has been particularly strong since COVID, according to Jeff who explained that the family law side of the practice struggled to keep pace with the constant price increases.

“While we thought we knew what something was worth, we had to reset every couple of months because prices were moving so quickly,” said Jeff.

“We were clambering for evidence of the latest valuation for property negotiations.”

At the time, open homes had hundreds lining up to view properties.

But where’s the market now?

Nielan Lesko, a conveyancer at the firm, said: “We are seeing a lot of people going to auction, because they are confident they are going to get a better price these days. They are not accepting prior offers.

“So it shows to me that the markets just keeps going higher and higher.”

Jeff added: “Being near the highway or near the train station is something people are looking at. There is also a hospital shooting up near the train station.

“Those sorts of infrastructure expenditures, particular at state government level, generally underlie growth and continuing growth.

“Hopefully the station will take some of the strain off the M1, because it can be problematic to say the least.

“Trying to get anywhere from the M1 in the Northern Gold Coast is the one big elephant in the room and that’s the traffic congestion.

“But often infrastructure lags population growth anywhere you look – it’s nothing new.”

The InfoTrack Q4 Market Update noted: “Pimpama remains popular for houses, appearing within the top four suburbs for third quarter in a row … and is “highly appealing to buyers due to its strategic placement between the Gold Coast and Brisbane city.

“The increased interest in this vicinity seems to be growing, with Pimpama’s sister suburb Upper Coomera remaining in the list at #9 and inland cousin Yarrabilba entering the list at #7.”