Sunday, February 24, 2008

Auction Results for Charlotte Towers

Apartment 2703 in Charlotte Towers recently went to auction and was sold for $461,000.
This apartment was originally listed for sale at $518,000, prior to completion of the building.
Details from original online advertisement: 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 1 car, "this fantastic unit enjoys a total internal area of 71m2 with a further 11m2 allocated for alfresco dining".

Other recent sales (according to Ray White):

172/170 Leichardt Street, Spring Hill - $441,000 (Oxygen Apartments)

83/82 Boundary Street, Brisbane - $660,000 (River Place)

46 & 47/293 North Quay, Brisbane - $360,000 (North Quay)

1206/128 Charlotte Street, Brisbane - $320,000 (Charlotte Towers)

14/22 Barry Parade, Fortitude Valley - $510,000 (The Hub)

Admiralty Two - Recent Sales

Market Forces

My theory is that if a building has too many apartments for sale at any one time, this negatively impacts the value of the apartments. First, it shows high turnover (which could mean dissatisfaction. Second, it drives the price down -- as purchasers can play each seller off. On the other hand, scarcity drives values higher.

I have tried to work out how many apartments are for sale in certain buildings as at today, looking at various sources, and this what I conclude. I did not count anything reported to be under contract. The details are probably inaccurate, but the overall picture is probably about right:

Brisbane City

  • Admiralty Towers One - 0
  • Admiralty Quays - 1
  • Admiralty Towers Two - 2
  • Quay West - 2
  • Metro 21 - 4
  • River Place - 5
  • Felix - 6
  • Casino Towers - 8
  • Skyline - at least 26 (plus what the developer has not yet sold)
  • Festival Towers - 32
  • Charlotte Towers - at least 40 (plus what the developer has not yet sold)
  • Aurora - 41
  • M on Mary - more than 100
South Bank area
  • Saville South Bank - 0
  • Arbour on Grey - 2
A Niche Realty Newsletter reports the following regarding number of sales and median sales price over a six month period (1 May 2007 to 30 October 2007):


By comparison, in the whole of Indooroopilly, there are 12 apartments/units currently listed for sale, of varying age and quality.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Brisbane Videos

These interesting videos show future developments for Brisbane. So take care when buying -- some existing buildings will loose their views; and there will be a huge influx of apartments into Brisbane in the future.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmGWIbOYZmU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l687g1Ub5qM&feature=related

Trilogy Tower

Wickham Terrace & Turbot Street (Central Station)

Vision

Tennyson Reach

NorthBridge (office development, which will block some views from Evolution)

Brisbane Now, from PleaseTakeMeTo.com

Trilogy Tower & Mirvac

APH is spreading the rumor that Mirvac will be managing its new apartment hotel complex at Trilogy. Pricing is said to start at $480,000 for a one bedroom furnished apartment without a river view.

I hope that APH will do a better job than it did on Aurora, where there are many unhappy residents and unhappy owners.

Aurora Becomes A Hotel

Another Brisbane apartment building is being turned into a hotel. This time it is Aurora.

Owner residents and tenants are upset and complaining.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/articles/2008/02/01/1201801005451.html

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/queensland/hotel-boom-will-push-rents-up/2008/01/31/1201714119885.html

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/queensland/hundreds-face-high-rise-eviction/2008/01/30/1201369225722.html

See prior posts.:

Casino Towers Falls to Oaks

Charlotte Towers to Become Hotel

Turning Apartments into Hotels

When will the Council stop this?

A number of buildings are adding anti-Oaks provisions to their by-laws. The latest to do this is Admiralty 2.

Gabba Central

Three Year Leases For Brisbane?

As reported in the Brisbane Times:

http://www.domain.com.au/Public/Article.aspx?id=1202760269214&index=NationalIndex&headline=Three-year%20leases%20

"Changes to Brisbane's rental market in coming years could see the introduction of a US-style system where three-year leases are quite common, one property analyst believes.

The shortage of rental accommodation in South-East Queensland is unlikely to improve in the short term, signalling a need for change, according to Michael Matusik from Matusik Property Insight.

In the US and some parts of Europe, tenants take out leases that can stretch for years - and sometimes generations.

A similar system would work in Brisbane where soaring prices and plummeting vacancy rates are stretching the rental market, he said.

Currently in Brisbane, the most common lease length is six months - but Mr Matusik believes an increase to at least 12-month minimums is on the horizon.

....."

See article for more detail.

Mirvac's Results

Mirvac's results release yesterday included the following information:

  • Tennyson Reach QLD - $203m in exchanged contracts
  • Queensland residential pipeline forecast for apartments - $1,865m
  • Housing market construction activity through FY08
    - Strong: VIC, QLD
    - Moderate: WA, SA
    - Recovering: NSW - but still below long-term trend through 2008
  • Inter-state economic outlook
    - Strong: WA, QLD
    - Moderate: VIC
    - Recovering: NSW

http://www.mirvac.com.au/investor/pdf/20080212_WebPres.pdf

TENNYSON DEVELOPMENT: Acquired Aug 05, Project Value $574m, Total Lots - 393; Released Lots - 207; Exchanged Lots -126
Tennyson Breakdown:
Softstone & Lushington Project Value $191m; Total Lots: 115 Released: 115; Exchanged: 115 (Settlement Apr 2009 to July 2009) Price Range: $940,000 – $4.9m
Farringford Project Value $126m; Total Lots 92; Released Lots 92; Exchanged: 11 (Settlement Sep 2009 to Jan 2010) Price Range: $805,000 – $4.9m
Pamphlett Project Value $109m; Total Lots: 82 (Settlement July 2010 to November 2010); Price Range: $695,000 – $3.2m
Parsons Project Value $96m Total Lots 67 (Settlement July 2011 to Nov 2011); Price Range: $885,000 – $3.3m
Somersby Project Value: $53m Total Lots 37 (Settlement July 11 to Nov 2011) Price Range: $885,000 – $3.3m

Newstead River Park: 631 apartments, settlement not until June 2010 to June 2014: Price Range: $800,000 – $6.0m

http://www.mirvac.com.au/investor/pdf/20080212_HYReport.pdf

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Someone was not happy

The CEO of APM was not happy with this post on another blog.

Brisbane Construction

As reported on SkyScraperLife (including projected completion date and name of builder):

Under Construction:
Centary Square [108 Wickham St] -- Feb-08 <<>>
Evolution - [18 Tank St] -- due Apr-08 <<>>
Green Square [503 St. Paul’s Tce] -- Jun-08 <<>>
Tribune [199 Grey St] -- Jun-08 <<>>
WBC Annex [199 George St] -- Jun-08 <<>>
Devine Office [333 Ann St] -- Sep-08 <<>>
Wesly Mission [110 Ann St] -- Sep-08 << ???????? >>
545 Queen St [545 Queen St] -- Nov-08 <<>>
Petrie Barracks [Given Tce] -- Nov-08 <<>>
Central Plaza 3 [80 Eagle St] -- Dec-08 <<>>
NAB Annex [308 Queen St] -- Dec-08 <<>>
53 Albert St [53 Albert St] -- Mar-09 <<>>
Brisbane Central [140 Elizabeth St] -- Mar-09 <<>>
Matisee tower [110 Mary St] -- Mar-09 <<>>
NorthBridge [31 Tank St] -- Mar-09 <<>>
AM60 [42 Albert St] -- Mar-09 <<>>
The Macrossan [475 Adelaide St] -- Jun-09 <<>>
Suncorp Tower [179 Turbot St] -- Jun-09 <<>>
Icon Place [270 Adelaide St] -- Jun-09 <<>>
Sky Campus [400 George St] -- Dec-09 <<>>
NorthBank Plaza [275 George] -- Dec-09 <<>>
Vision [131 Mary St] -- Jun 2012 <<>>


Pending Start: (real Projects with construction contract, due to start soon)
Trilogy [480 Queen] -- <<>>
111 Eagle St [111 Eagle St] -- <<>>
Union [Milton Station 150 Milton Rd] -- <<>>
Westminster Hall [145 Ann St] -- <<>>
Southpoint [Collins Place] -- <<>>
Meriton [495 Adelaide St] -- <<>>
550 Queen St [550 Queen St] -- <<>>

Not all of these are apartments. Will these block views of existing apartments?

Meriton's Brisbane Plans