Sunday, December 27, 2009

Charlotte Towers Sales in 2009


Charlotte Towers, at 128 Charlotte Street, Brisbane has had over 40 sales in 2009, which is almost one a week. Most of the owners are investors who do not live in the building. The building has one and two bedroom apartments. Some do not have carparks.

  • Lot 502, sold in June for $522,500
  • Lot 603, sold in May for $410,000
  • Lot 604, sold in April for $317,000
  • Lot 701, sold in March for $345,000
  • Lot 704, sold in March for $305,000
  • Lot 807, sold in September for $450,000
  • Lot 1005, sold in March for $295,000
  • Lot 1107, sold in March for $450,000
  • Lot 1202, sold in June for $480,000
  • Lot 1203, sold in April for $437,000
  • Lot 1502, sold in May for $480,000
  • Lot 1503, sold in June for $445,000
  • Lot 1508, sold in July for $473,000
  • Lot 1510, sold in March for $325,000
  • Lot 1609, sold in October for $358,000
  • Lot 1703, sold in February for $450,000
  • Lot 1706, sold in February for $325,000
  • Lot 2006, sold in October for $328,000
  • Lot 2101, sold in October for $420,000
  • Lot 2107, sold in September for $495,000
  • Lot 2210, sold in January for $312,000
  • Lot 2302, sold in March for $468,000
  • Lot 2307, sold in May for $490,000
  • Lot 2308, sold in February for $485,000
  • Lot 2310, sold in July for $346,000
  • Lot 2408, sold in April for $495,000
  • Lot 2501, sold in June for $418,000
  • Lot 2604, sold in July for $348,000
  • Lot 2608, sold in August for $492,500
  • Lot 2708, sold in May for $490,000
  • Lot 3007, sold in February for $485,000
  • Lot 3302, sold in August for $320,000
  • Lot 3310, sold in February for $358,000
  • Lot 3401, sold in July for $355,000
  • Lot 3412, sold in May for $360,000
  • Lot 3811, sold in September for $347,000
  • Lot 4110, sold in April for $433,000
  • Lot 4112, sold in August for $463,000
  • Lot 4209, sold in April for $425,000
  • Lot 4308, sold in February for $717,000

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Skyline sales in 2009

Skyline, at 30 Macrossan Street, has had 16 sales in 2009, mostly from the developer clearing unsold stock of 3 bedroom apartments. Most of the owners are investors who do not live in the building. At least 2 investors lost money when reselling this year.


  • Lot 12, 3 bedroom 2 level "townhouse" with outdoor area - sold in October for $950,000 (previous owners reportedly paid $1,240,000)
  • Lot 82 - 2 bed, 87 sqm internal, 15 sqm balcony - sold in January for $645,000
  • Lot 95 - 1 bed, 50 sqm internal, 11 sqm balcony - sold in February for $335,000
  • Lot 134 - 3 bed, 2 bath - 101 sqm internal, 19 sqm balcony - sold in June for $694,000
  • Lot 211 - 3 bed, 2 bath - sold in February by developer for $720,000
  • Lot 221 - 3 bed, 2 bath - sold in February by developer for $776,000
  • Lot 231 - 3 bed, 2 bath - sold in February by developer for $725,000
  • Lot 254 - 3 bed, 2 bath - 101 sqm internal, 19 sqm balcony - sold in March for $782,000
  • Lot 271 - 3 bed, 2 bath - sold in February by developer for $750,000
  • Lot 281 - 3 bed, 2 bath, 114 sqm internal with 22 sqm balcony - sold in March by developer for $755,000
  • Lot 291 - same as above - sold in March by developer for $795,000
  • Lot 391 - 3 bed, 2 bath, total size 142 sqm - sold in October for $875,000 (previous owner paid $910,000)
  • Lot 441 - 3 bed plus study, 225 sqm internal plus 16 sqm balcony - sold in August by company related to developer for $1,800,000
  • Lot 442 - sold in August by developer for $1,800,000
  • Lot 451 - same as 441 - sold in August by developer for $1,800,000
  • Lot 452 - sold in September by developer for $1,750,000

Matusik Turns Bear!

RELIEVED property sector experts are optimistic about future growth for the industry after residential values seem to have dodged a bullet in the fallout of the global financial crisis.

Experts across the country are predicting capital increases of about 5 per cent. Some are warning of problems associated with an undersupply of property.

But Brisbane-based property researcher Michael Matusik has gone against popular opinion to suggest that developers should be cautious. "I have been banging on about an undersupply for close to 10 years, but circumstances have changed in the past six months to suggest that maybe we are, firstly, already building enough dwellings to cater for demand, and that we might even be heading for an overbuild if current trends continue," Mr Matusik said.

He said increased foreign migration hadn't resulted in as big as demand as expected due in part to large household arrangements.

RPData researcher Cameron Kusher is more bullish than many commentators and predicts 7 to 8 per cent growth in Brisbane next year. He cited availability of finance as the wildcard that could affect how many investors get into the market. He predicted many would look at older stock that needed renovating.

Source: Courier Mail

Midwood Report

UNIT sales are leading an improvement in turnover within Brisbane's property market, with 260 deals in the three months ending November.

It compares with 174 the previous quarter. The sales show Brisbane's unit market is becoming balanced with only 13 months' supply, according to the latest Midwood Investment Report.

Report author Bill Morris said that with approvals already in place for shelved development sites, there was the opportunity to quickly reintroduce them to the market. The unit resurgence follows some improvement in the more prestige end of the housing market, which had been lacklustre for more than a year.

Courier Mail

A leading Queensland property expert says there is an oversupply of apartments for sale on the Sunshine Coast.

The author of the Midwood Queensland Investment Report, Bill Morris, says only 71 apartments were sold in the latest November quarter. He says the Sunshine Coast has many more apartments ready and waiting for sale than Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

"The current figures show there's about three years of supply sitting there in new apartments at the current take-up rate or demand," he said. "The Gold Coast has got around 18 months supply and Brisbane's even less. Brisbane's about 13 months supply. So Sunshine Coast has a lot more apartments for sale in terms of take-up or sales."

ABC News

Projects are falling by the wayside as developers struggle to obtain finance, Bill Morris said, and this is contributing to the housing supply demand deficit.

Source

Friday, December 25, 2009

Annual Rate of Return for Apartments in Downtown Brisbane

Often, there are statistics that are published that set out the change in the medium house or apartment price. These statistics are often not helpful. For example, if in one quarter there are many low end properties that are sold, and in the next quarter, there are many top end properties sold, the medium price will increase. Similarly, if there are new apartments entering the marketplace, this will most often result in an increase in the medium price for the area. However, in both these cases, you cannot say that values have increased.


I think that it is more useful to track the gains on resale of the same property over time. I have looked at three quality apartment buildings in Brisbane, namely Admiralty Towers, Admiralty Two and Quay West on Alice Street to see what capital gains owners have made. I have looked at all apartments that have been reported as sold this year (2009), and then looked back to see what the owner paid when first purchasing the apartment. In all but one case, the resale was the third or more resale of the same apartment. I have then calculated the Annual Rate of Return, using this calculator. The Rate of Return only looks at capital gains, and does not take into account rent received, expenses paid or transaction costs such as stamp duty or agents fees. Here are the results (with P-Price being the original purchase price on the P-Date; and Sell Price being what that owner received when reselling this year):

Lot P-Price P-Date Sell Price Sell Date A RoR
Admiralty Towers One
5 $282,500 2/08/01 $520,000 25/09/09 7.77%
73 $490,000 19/10/06 $600,000 30/06/09 7.79%
76 $498,000 15/05/03 $685,000 31/08/09 5.19%
92 $510,000 21/03/07 $545,000 7/08/09 2.83%
119 $810,000 1/02/06 $1,200,000 19/03/09 13.36%
Quay West
23 $230,000 6/12/02 $420,000 8/07/09 9.57%
24 $435,000 16/05/08 $450,000 18/04/09 3.74%
49 $256,000 4/11/95 $425,000 25/09/09 3.71%
55 $310,000 10/05/04 $440,000 25/02/09 7.58%
68 $585,000 4/03/05 $675,000 11/10/09 3.15%
99 $400,000 13/08/96 $700,000 25/09/09 4.35%
120 $275,000 28/04/97 $460,000 2/09/09 4.25%
Admiralty Two
20 $445,000 13/09/04 $725,000 11/05/09 11.03%
47 $700,000 29/08/05 $945,000 1/09/09 7.77%
81 $720,000 23/11/07 $725,000 27/03/09 0.51%
94 $615,000 19/12/06 $730,000 7/05/09 7.45%
97 $340,000 20/02/98 $780,000 12/06/09 7.61%
106 $490,000 15/11/04 $750,000 24/06/09 9.67%
107 $485,000 1/02/02 $990,000 15/08/09 9.92%
124 $615,000 13/04/07 $750,000 19/10/09 8.20%
137 $432,000 22/03/97 $815,000 15/07/09 5.28%

Annual Rate of Return for Brisbane Apartments

Often, there are statistics that are published that set out the change in the medium house or apartment price. These statistics are often not helpful. For example, if in one quarter there are many low end properties that are sold, and in the next quarter, there are many top end properties sold, the medium price will increase. Similarly, if there are new apartments entering the marketplace, this will most often result in an increase in the medium price for the area. However, in both these cases, you cannot say that values have increased.


I think that it is more useful to track the gains on resale of the same property over time. I have looked at three quality apartment buildings in Brisbane, namely Admiralty Towers, Admiralty Two and Quay West on Alice Street to see what capital gains owners have made. I have looked at all apartments that have been reported as sold this year (2009), and then looked back to see what the owner paid when first purchasing the apartment. In all but one case, the resale was the third or more resale of the same apartment. I have then calculated the Annual Rate of Return, using this calculator. The Rate of Return only looks at capital gains, and does not take into account rent received, expenses paid or transaction costs such as stamp duty or agents fees. Here are the results (with P-Price being the original purchase price on the P-Date; and Sell Price being what that owner received when reselling this year):

LotP-PriceP-DateSell PriceSell DateARoR
AD1
5282500200152000025/09/097.77%
73490000200660000030/06/097.79%
76498000200368500031/08/095.19%
9251000020075450007/08/092.83%
1198100002006120000019/03/0913.36%
QW
2323000020024200008/07/099.57%
24435000200845000018/04/093.74%
49256000199542500025/09/093.71%
55310000200444000025/02/097.58%
68585000200567500011/10/093.15%
99400000199670000025/09/094.35%
12027500019974600002/09/094.25%
AD2
20445000200472500011/05/0911.03%
4770000020059450001/09/097.77%
81720000200772500027/03/090.51%
9461500020067300007/05/097.45%
97340000199878000012/06/097.61%
106490000200475000024/06/099.67%
107485000200299000015/08/099.92%
124615000200775000019/10/098.20%
137432000199781500015/07/095.28%