Main beach at Noosa, where the annual median house price has hit a new high.

JUST when you thought Noosa’s property market could not get any hotter, new figures reveal the annual median house price in the picturesque pocket has risen to a new high.

The coastal juggernaut posted annual house price growth of 11.7 per cent to hit a median of $739,500 at the end of December 2018, while the Sunshine Coast statistical division increased 5.3 per cent to $600,000, according to the Real Estate Institute of Queensland.

Since 2013, Noosa’s median house price has increased a whopping 45 per cent, or $170,000, the REIQ’s latest Queensland Market Monitor reveals.

Noosa’s median house price has risen 45 per cent in five years.

Noosa’s unit market also proved a winner, with price growth of 10 per cent over the year to reach a median price of $570,000 — $100,000 more expensive than Brisbane’s median unit price.

Local real estate agents are still expecting ­another bumper year of sales in Noosa given the shortage of new properties, due to strict height limits and population caps.

Expat buyers, particularly from Hong Kong and Singapore, are fuelling further price pressures in the popular market.

This property at 55 Wyuna Dr, Noosaville, recently sold for $4.75m.

Tom Offermann Real Estate recently sold a waterfront house at 55 Wyuna Dr, Noosaville, for $4.75 million and a Noosa Heads home at 27 Mossman Court for $5.75 million.

An apartment in the La Mer complex on Noosa’s Hastings St recently changed hands for more than $6 million.

But while they have been the shining stars of Queensland’s housing market for the past five years, some of the gloss is starting to come off the Gold and Sunshine coasts.

This house at 27 Mossman Court, Noosa Heads, recently sold for $5.75m.

Proving even the brightest stars need time out of the spotlight, the Sunshine Coast region actually ended the December quarter of 2018 with an 8.2 per cent decline in the median house price to $680,000.

The Gold Coast residential property market also softened in the last quarter of 2018, with the median house price inching just 0.8 per cent higher to $630,000.

Over the past year, the median house price rose 1.4 per cent, but days on market rose and vendor discounting increased.

The Gold Coast residential property market softened in the December quarter of 2018.

REIQ chief executive Antonia Mercorella said the Gold Coast market had been “on fire”, but had started to soften since entering the post Commonwealth Games phase.

Across the rest of the state, the Cairns property market appears to be holding its ground with prices relatively steady compared to a year ago.

The median house price slipped 1.2 per cent over the year ending December to finish 2018 on $405,000.

Its unit market posted similar yearly results with its median price flat at $230,000.

The housing market in Cairns is holding steady, according to the REIQ. Picture: Brendan Radke.

Townsville’s house market ended the year with a three per cent drop in its median price to $320,000, thanks mostly to a natural disaster.

The REIQ report said the next round of quarterly data would be too soon to reflect the impact of Cyclone Oma.

The Toowoomba and Fraser Coast housing markets finished 2018 relatively steady, while Gladstone continues to face significant headwinds as prices continue to soften.

The Gladstone median house price is now $278,000 — about $160,000 less than it was five years ago.