DEVELOPERS of housing lots on the Gold Coast are shrinking them, according to figures from the Urban Development Institute of Australia.
The figures show that in 2011 the median size for new lots fell from 614sq m to 527sq m.
Duncan Maclaine, the UDIAs Queensland economic research director, said the smaller lots are a result of affordability constraints.
"In a nutshell, developers have to produce lots that buyers can afford," he said. "That's meant shrinking lot sizes in many instances.
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"Developers can't cut prices because of the cost of getting land ready for sale."
Mr Maclaine said that while lots are smaller, the median price of a square metre actually rose by 5.1 per cent in 2011, despite a weak market.
"Hikes in government charges, coupled with supply constraints, have seen the median price a square metre rise a staggering 201 per cent on the Gold Coast in the last decade," he said.
A total of 1030 lots were produced on the Gold Coast in 2011.
"That is the second-worst calendar year result on record and less than half of the levels posted immediately prior to the global financial crisis," said Mr Maclaine.
He said local bodies around Queensland are becoming more pro-development and that may help housing-lot buyers.
"Councils, including the Gold Coast council, realise the part the development industry plays in making their economies healthy," Mr Maclaine said.
