Pain and Gain

RP Data has issued its December 2013 Pain and Gain report, comparing sales prices with the actual purchase price for the same property.  A summary:

"Over the third quarter of 2013 RP Data recorded 69,949 residential property re-sales nationally; of these 11.1% recorded a gross loss from the original purchase price. The gross value of the losses associated with these loss making re-sales totalled $488.1 million. Conversely, 88.9% of all September quarter re-sales recorded a gross profit relative to their original purchase price. The gross profit from these re-sales equated to $12.6 billion.

 Lifestyle regions continue to show the largest proportion of loss making re-sales, particularly within the unit markets as opposed to detached housing markets. Queensland’s Far North has overtaken the Gold Coast to record the largest proportion of loss making re-sales, with 33.9% of all September quarter re-sales transacting at a price lower than what the home was purchased for."

El Dorado Redone

A few years ago, a South African developer tried to redevelop the El Dorado cinema site in Indooroopilly.  The developer, PCN, went bust.  Now, a new development is planned, not just for the El Dorado site, but for neighbouring sites as well.

The development that has been proposed consists of two towers, as well as a podium containing cinemas, a bowling alley and possibly an open air cinema.

The first tower is 16 storeys, with 78 residential apartments.  (These will be mostly two bedroom apartments.)

The second tower is 21 storeys, with 255 residential apartments and 70 short stay suites.  There will be 135 two bedroom apartments, with the remainder being 1 bedroom or studios.  The second tower also has a round Skybar on level 21!

There will be no three bedroom apartments.

See www.eldoradovillage.com.au

300 George Street

The site of the old Supreme Court and District Court buildings at 300 George Street have been sold by the State Government to a property developer.  Three towers are planned for the site, including an office tower, a residential tower and a hotel.  There will also be a shopping mall at ground level.  The residential tower will be 82 levels high, and consist of 428 apartments.  There are two recreation decks (level 4 and level 45) that will include pools, gyms etc.

The developers are a joint venture between Shayher Group and Bao Jia Development.

38 High Street

A new apartment development is currently being marketed off-the-plan in Toowong.  It is 38 High Street, overlooking the R.E. Hotel.  It even has a floor plan painted on the side of the sales suite.  the sign says that 2 bedroom apartments are available for under $500,000.  There are a number of sites in central Toowong earmarked for development.

Sunland's Abian ready for sale

Sunland has completed a very fancy display building for Abian, on site, on the corner of Alice Street and Albert Street.  See photo below.  There was an advertisement in the AFR magazine this weekend, inviting prospective purchasers to register.  I suspect that this building will be marketed as a high end building, at very high prices.  Sunland's apartment buildings on the Gold Coast are glitzy, and the apartments are large.  In my opinion, quality is average.  Q1 supposedly has a number of problems.  Sunland's honesty (or at least, that of a key executive/owner) has been questioned in a law suit in Melbourne -- see prior posts.  It will be interesting to see how successful Abian will be.

Brisbane Apartments

A Brisbane real estate agent who sells CBD apartments (Hannah Schuhmann) produced an interesting map that shows some of the larger apartment buildings in Brisbane city.  Those buildings were designed for residents and long term tenants.  However, most of these buildings are now mixed -- the onsite manager is running a short term rental pool, and is pretending to operate a hotel.  (Oaks is the predominate manager of the listed buildings on the map.)

It is interesting that this same real estate agent, who is selling an apartment in Metro 21 states, as a feature of Metro 21:

"No hotel-style accommodation within the building".

New hotel in Mary Street

Currently under construction, but almost complete, at 103 Mary Street is a new hotel, to be branded as a Four Points by Sheraton.  It is 33 storeys.  It is impacting the views of River City and 212 Margaret, both which are neighbouring apartment buildings.  It is also adjacent to the 111+222 site in Mary/Margaret Street.

103 Mary Street is the second building from the left.  212 Margaret is on the left.  Quest River Park Central can be seen second from the right.

Rent My Estate

For landlords who do not like real estate agents, a new service -- Rent My Estate -- allows landlords to list on real-estate.com.au.  It provides a good interface for landlords to create and manage online advertisements.

Where the rent is about $650 a week, an agent will typically charge more than $4,000 a year for property management services.  Most agents, in my opinion, do a poor job on the rental side.  So if you have the time and skills, and live near your rental property, you can save a substantial amount and get a better result using Rent My Estate.