Friday, January 1, 2010

Review of My Predictions

I made predictions at the beginning of 2008 and 2009. Both times, my predictions were mostly wrong! I guess I should stop making predictions about real estate.


In 2009, the Brisbane apartment market went backwards in the first half of the year, and regained some of the lost ground in the second half of the year.

In the new apartment market, there were more cancellations of projects then new projects starting. Most developers struggled to achieve off-the-plan sales. The new luxury apartment market died. Most of the pre-sales were achieved for budget priced developments, of small apartments. A number of people who purchased off the plan in the boom times were unable to settle in 2009 -- often because the bank valuations came in much lower than the contract price. Developers dropped prices and cancelled projects.

Prices dropped in the resale apartment market. Rents did not rise, and in some instances, took a minor step backwards. For a number of sales, the vendor lost money on the resale.

The Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast markets were harder hit than Brisbane.

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