Housing prices in Australia's Gold Coast are dropping by as much as 30 percent with increasing properties up for sale and rising unemployment and interest rates hurting the major tourist destination.

RP Data reports that lifestyle properties in the state have been similarly affected saying that for the week to November 21, an estimated 74,193 properties were advertised in Queensland, an increase of 26 percent from the same period last year. The state has highest number of properties for sale companies to other major states New South Wales and Victoria with 64,362 and 45,976 property listings.

Despite the number of properties for sale in the state, less people are opting for the Gold Coast because prices are still considered high. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics migration to Queensland is now at lowest point since March 1988. Despite the abundance of properties available, the average house price on the Gold Coast is still US$485,000 and US$350,000 for apartments.

Unemployment rates are one of the major factors affecting sales. It is reaching as high as 10 percent in some areas of the state while overall unemployment stood at 6.5 percent in comparison to the 5.5 percent average for the country.

The Urban Development Institute of Australia says 9,400 workers were estimated to have been fired in the property development industry since last year. "Obviously that's a fairly serious drop," Stephen Harrison, president of UDIA's Gold Coast branch, told The Australian. "The Gold Coast is more susceptible to times of boom and downturn than other parts of Australia because so many people work in the property development industry."