Recent Apartment Sales in Brisbane 4000

Here are some recent sales (all early 2016) with actual sales prices of apartments in Brisbane Postcode 4000.  These are all B and C quality buildings, and so expect to pay more for A quality:

• Skyline, Apt 91, 30 Macrossan Street, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1 car - $747,000
• Skyline, Apt 261, 30 Macrossan Street, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 cars - $800,000
• Skyline, Apt 41, 30 Macrossan Street, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1 car - $731,500
• Festival Towers, Apt 3605, 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - $529,000
• Festival Towers, Apt 4006, 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - $570,000
• Festival Towers, Apt 1805, 1 bed, 1 bath, no car - $342,500
• Festival Towers, Apt 2503, 2 bed, 1 bath, 1 car - $499,000
• Charlotte Towers, Apt 508, 1 bed, 1 bath, no car - $350,000
• Charlotte Towers, Apt 2902, 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - $540,000
• M on Mary, Apt 3204, 1 bed, 1 bath, no car - $356,000
• M on Mary, Apt 607, 1 bed, 1 bath, no car - $360,000
• M on Mary, Apt 2609, 1 bed, 1 bath, no car - $327,000
• Felix, Apt 303, 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - $600,000
• Meriton Herschel St (Infinity), 2 bed, 2 bath, no car - $580,000
• Meriton Soleil - 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - $575,000
• Vue, 92 Quay St, Apt 2301, 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - $460,000
• Vue, 92 Quay St, Apt 2602, 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - $437,500

Spice Apartments at South Brisbane

The Spice Apartments development at South Brisbane is currently being sold off-the-plan.  According to the agents selling these apartments, most have sold.

It is a 14 level development, with two towers sharing a common podium.  The complex overlooks the onramp and tolling infrastructure for the Go-Between Bridge.  It is river front, sort of, with trees and and bikeway between the apartments and the river.  Many of the apartments will have no views, or will only have views of a busy road or industrial buildings (that will probably get redeveloped into apartment or office towers.)  Any city views are likely to be built out.

Example prices:

• One bedroom on level 2 with car space, 54 sqm internal, with balcony and court yard, so total 78 sqm.  No view.  $429,000.
• One bed, one bath, level 2, 49 sqm internal, with balcony and court yard, total 77 sqm, $420,000.
• Two bed, one bath, 1 car, level 12, internal - 63 sqm, total 76 sqm, one bedroom is internal with no windows (so this is really a one bed plus study) - $526,000
• Two bed, two bath, 1 car, level 3, internal - 83 sqm, total 101 sqm - $585,000

In my opinion, these are expensive prices for small apartments that are in a poor location.  Even though only 15 minutes walk to the city, there is not much currently in this area.  It is a long walk to South Bank, even though the sale brochure for the development has lots of South Bank photos.

The body corp fees for the first year are low, around the $3,000 a year mark.  My guess is that these are likely to increase substantially in subsequent years.

Rents for unfurnished apartments are provided by the developer:

• 1 bed - $410 to $480 a week
• 2 bed, 2 bath - $550 to $640 a week
• 3 bed, 2 bath - $850 to $950 a week.

It will be interesting to see if these rents are actually achieved.  You can rent a 110 sqm two bed, two bath apartment at South Bank, with river and park views, fully furnished for $690, so it is hard to see how these rents are possible.

Before buying, I would suggest looking at Vue Apartments, which are diagonally opposite the bridge and river.  Compare actual sales prices and actual rents for similar apartments, and look at this building's financial performance.

HiDef Aerial Photos of Brisbane 2011 Floods

NearMaps took hidef aerial photographs ("photomaps") of the 2011 Brisbane floods on 13 January 2011. Some examples:

• Tennyson Reach
• Parklands Sherwood
• Regatta area
• Encore and Fresh apartments at Toowong
• Macquarie Street, St Lucia
• Waters Edge and Flow
• SL8, Tempo and LeftBank
• Vue
• SouthBank
• Admiralty precinct

Brisbane Floods

With the flood water going down, the clean up is starting. Many Brisbane apartment buildings were impacted by the floods -- basement carparks full of water and mud; no electricity; residents evacuated.

Some of the buildings that have significant water in their basements include:

• Admiralty Towers
• Admiralty Two
• Admiralty Quays "we only had minor flooding in the lower level of the basement (about 50cm deep)"
• Riverplace
• Riparian (access tunnel to carparks - carparks are above ground level)
• Felix
• 212 Margaret
• Festival Towers
• River City
• Vue at Milton
• Water's Edge
• Flow
• SL8
• Parklands Sherwood
• Fresh Toowong
• Encore Toowong
• Arbour on Grey at South Bank
• Tennyson Reach
• Most apartments on the river at St Lucia
• the list goes on

Pradella writes about Parklands at Sherwood: "Sadly this site has experienced quite a lot of damage. The Outlook – which are the entertainment facilities has been completely submerged by water. The car park under Jacaranda and Brookline is also completely submerged. Whilst floodwaters did not reach the interior of the apartment buildings, it did however breach a number of houses and townhouses. The entire complex was evacuated late on Wednesday afternoon. Power has been cut and access to the property restricted."

and about Waters Edge:

"There has been significant damage to the pool and the grounds however the water from the river has NOT entered the building. The car park under the building has flooded, and all residents evacuated. Power has been cut."

Admiralty Towers has it status (current evacuated) on its website.

I am amazed that the Council allows buildings to be built with basements that flood, forcing loss of power and residents to be evacuated. See also this article.

I am not sure how the floods will impact property prices in Queensland. After the 1974 floods, the prices of impacted houses decreased for a period. There will be a shortage of rental accommodation, as many people are looking for places to live. Foreign press is reporting on its nationals being evacuated -- see for example, this article from Singapore and Malaysia -- and QUT and UQ were flooded, which will not be good news for those trying to attract foreign students to Brisbane.

On the positive side, it could have been much worse. Only one person died in Brisbane, and the flood levels were lower than initially expected.

Vue Apartments

The Vue Apartment complex on Coronation Drive has been impacted by its bad location and road construction activity. There is construction of the Hale Street link and GoBetween Bridge nearby, and the complex is located on the corner of a busy road and a highway. It was developed by FKP, who is now pushing a new development at Milton called The Milton. Example listings in Vue:

• Apt 1705, 2 bed with roof top terrace listed at $750,000 being sold by the original developer FKP
• Apt 3102, 2 bed, renting at $460, listed at $430,000 (sold for $350,000 in 2006)
• Apt 2303, 2 bed, 5th floor, listed at $470,000 (purchased off the plan for $440,000 in 2004)

Apt 2409 sold off-the-plan by FKP in 2006 for $535,000 and was resold in February 2009 for $445,000.

Apt 2001 sold off-the-plan for $445,000 and resold for $400,000 in October 2009.

Apt 2008 sold off-the-plan for more than $504,000 and resold in Sept 2009 for $479,000

Take Care Buying Off the Plan

If you believe the sales agents hired by developers who sell apartments in Brisbane off-the-plan, you can't go wrong. Sign today, but don't pay for a few years. Population growth. Depreciation benefits. Get is early to choose the best apartment. Early buyers will get the best price. There will be a price rise soon, so sign today!

But there are huge risks:

• the building may never start, and so the deposit is tied up for years
• the apartment may look different to what you expect, or have a worse view
• there could be development next door, impacting your view and the location
• the developer could onsell the development, and so you end up buying from someone other than who you signed with
• the apartment may be up to 5% smaller than set out in the marketing plans
• the quality may be different to what you expect.

However, the biggest risk is that you pay the wrong price. You are trying to guess tomorrow's price today. And let me tell you, prices do go down. In addition, you are paying for the developers marketing and sales costs, which is often more than 5% of the the purchase price. So you are 5% behind before you start.

Let's look at some examples of buildings marketed off-the-plan to see how the purchasers did.

Devine is selling Hamilton Harbour like hot cakes. Let's see their track record. Here are some example resales for Charlotte Towers, their most recent Brisbane apartment development. I have looked at typical midlevel apartments:

Apt 2003 - purchased Jan 05 for $444K, resold July 08 for $425K

Apt 2210 - purchased Dec 04 for $333K, resold Jan 09 for $312K

Apt 2302 - purchased March 07 for $483K, resold March 09 for $468K

Apt 2307 - purchased Sept 06 for $497K, resold May 09 for $490K

Apt 2308 - purchased Sept 05 for $501K, resold Feb 09 for $485K

Apt 2410 - purchased Dec 04 for $351K, resold March 08 for $310K

Apt 2608 - purchased Sept 04 for $508K, resold Aug 09 for $492.5K

Apt 2703 - purchased March 06 for $492K, resold Feb 08 for $461K

Apt 2908 - purchased Feb 05 for $508K, resold Nov 08 for $485K

Keep in mind the the purchasers paid stamp duty of between $5,000 and $15,000 and agents fees to sell the apartment of roughly $12,000, then you can see that many of the off-the-plan purchasers lost more than $30,000, after holding for 3 to 5 years.

Another example is FKP's Vue apartments, at 92 Quay Street, Brisbane.

Apt 1106 - purchased Oct 04 for $400K, resold July 07 for $368K

Apt 1205 - purchased Oct 04 for $475K, resold July 07 for $440K

Apt 2008 - purchased Jan 05 for $504K, resold Aug 08 for $480K

Apt 2409 - purchased June 06 for $535K, resold Feb 09 for $445K

So take extreme care building off the plan, as you may end up paying too much for something that you don't like or want.

Misleading Advertisement for Pulse

Here is text of an advertisement for the Pulse off-the-plan apartment complex:

"Best Value Apartment in Brisbane CBD. This 2 bedroom 2 bathroom inner city apartment located in the heart of Brisbane CBD is an unbelievable $499,000."

Advertisement by Martin Graham from Property Focus.

I am not sure how an apartment building that is almost in Milton could be said to be in the "heart of the Brisbane CBD"! Have a look at the photo from the advertisement -- you can't even see the CBD. This complex is close to Milton Road, Coronation Drive and with views of the Inner City By Pass.

And on what basis is this the best value 2 bedroom apartment in Brisbane??

Take care, because FKP's complex next door to Pulse (Vue) has had capital decline, not capital growth.

Recent Apartment Sales in Brisbane City

Skyline - Apartment 344 - Level 34 - Two bedrooms - $600,000 (highest bid, did not sell, relisted at $650,000 and did not sell. Current owner paid $695,000)
Aurora - Apartment 439 - Level 43 - Two bedrooms - $460,000
Club Lodge - Apartment 51 - Two beds, two cars - $440,000
Vue - Apartment 2409 - Two beds - $445,000
River City - Apartment 3802 - Two beds - $403,220
Flow West End - Apartment 80 - Four beds - failed to sell at auction

Hale Street Bridge

The new Hale Street Bridge (or Link as the Council calls it) has a fly-over on Coronation Drive. Will it impact the views of Coronation Residences and Vue?

It will increase traffic on Merivale Streets and Cordelia Streets in South Brisbane. I would not buy an apartment on these streets.

Hale Street

"The revised plan, which was passed by Brisbane City Council at a special meeting today, includes an overpass from the Riverside Expressway to Coronation Drive at a cost of $55 million, and removes the need for outbound traffic to queue at an intersection.

"This will allow outbound traffic from the city to proceed to the west along Coronation Drive by going up and over southbound traffic," Cr Newman said.

Original projections found the construction of the bridge and link would add an additional 40 minutes to peak-hour commutes during 18 months' of work."

See Brisbane Times.

See also http://helenabrahams.com/media83.html

What will 2008 have in store for the Brisbane apartment market?

First, how did the Brisbane apartment market do in 2007?

The results were mixed.

It is hard to get reliable information about "the state of the market" when looking at inner city apartments in Brisbane. Agents only seem to remember the last two weeks -- if they made some good sales in the past 2 weeks, then the market is booming; if they didn't get new listings or a contract collapsed, then the market is heading towards a bust.

Information providers, such as RP Data and PRDColliers, have good information, and this information is often used by the media to make general conclusions. However, general conclusions are often not useful when considering a particular apartment building or apartment.

Capital Gains

Some apartment buildings did very well, and others did not. Overall, a good building had at least a 10% capital gain in 2007.

The buildings that had good capital gains include:

• Riverplace, where the average 2 bedroom apartment increased from about $500,000 to over $600,000.
• Admiralty Two, where 2 bedroom apartments increased from about $650,000 to $720,000 (with one now listed at over $800,000).
• Quay West, with a 2 bedroom apartment selling to a senior Devine employee at auction for over $800,000.
• Metro 21, with high floor 2 bedroom apartments increasing from less than $460,000 to more than $500,000.
• Arbour on Grey, with 2 bedroom apartments now in the low $700,000 range.

Buildings that have been disappointments include:

• Charlotte Towers and Festival Towers - with Oaks taking over management. Many developer apartments still remain for sale in Charlotte Towers. Investors who purchased off the plan have had a hard time getting good prices on resale, with over 800 pokey poor quality student apartments in these two buildings, where the views will likely be lost as buildings grow around them and there will always be competition amongst sellers.
• Casino Towers, also taken over by Oaks, and with North Bank plans taking out the river views.
• Aurora, a poor quality ghetto building.
• Vue, at Milton, with apartments that sold off the plan in the mid $700,000s reselling at auction in the mid $500,000s.
• Koko, that still has not sold out, and the complex feels like a ghost town. The developer overpromised and under delivered.

Rents

Rents increased, and vacancy rates dropped in 2007. But the overall rental market is not as good as many newspaper articles suggest. The poorer quality buildings are full of students, often with 6 people living in a 2 bedroom apartment, on a rent subsidised by the developer who promised the first owner a rental guarantee. Many apartments are occupied by corporate renters (such as Accenture, engineers working on the tunnel, etc) who are willing to pay high prices for new furnished apartments; but this demand will not continue indefinitely. Some buildings, such as those managed by Oaks, are turning apartments into hotel rooms, thus reducing supply. Although December is not the best month to find tenants, there are many empty apartments in Brisbane awaiting tenants. Skyline and Koko, for example, have many empty apartments.

Although rents increased in 2007, the rate of increase slowed towards the end of the year. It is now hard to find a good unfurnished two bedroom apartment for rent in the inner city for less than $550.

Predictions for 2008

Quality inner city apartments in Brisbane will do well in 2008. Capital growth will continue, and vacancy rates will remain low. Reasons for this include:

▪ Brisbane population will continue to increase.
▪ International students still regard Brisbane as a desirable location.
▪ There are many infrastructure projects in Brisbane, requiring professional staff to work in Brisbane.
▪ Traffic will get worse, and many young singles and families will want to live in quality accommodation close to work and other facilities.
▪ It is becoming more acceptable and desirable to live in an apartment in Brisbane.
▪ The U.S. subprime problems will have little long term impact in Brisbane.
▪ There will be few new buildings entering the market in the next two years. M on Mary and Evolution, both second tier buildings, will be complete in 2008. That's about it. There are only six buildings listed on realestate.com.au in the developers section for the CBD, and four of these are completed buildings (Vue, Trilogy, Pinnacle, Skyline, The Hub, Evolution). It does not look like any new buildings will be ready in 2009. There will be new buildings for which marketing will commence in 2008, but these buildings will not be ready until at least 2010.

So here are some predictions for 2008:

• The price of a good quality 2 bedroom 2 bathroom apartment in Brisbane, with views, will be at least $800,000.
• The price of an average quality 2 bedroom 2 bathroom apartment in Brisbane will reach $650,000.
• By the end of 2008, it will be hard to find any modern inner city apartment in Brisbane in a good location for less than $600,000.
• New off-the-plan 2 bedroom apartments (for buildings where marketing commences in 2008) will start at $800,000.
• Average rent for an unfurnished 2 bedroom apartment will jump midyear to $620 per week.
• There will be more buyers than sellers.
• There will be more action in the inner suburbs than in the city. Prices for quality apartments in areas such as Indooroopilly and Toowong (where there is a train station and regional shopping, close to education facilities) will boom. By the end on 2008, it will be hard to find a good quality 2 bedroom apartment in these areas for less than $600,000.
• Noosa and Mooloolaba will rise again, as people looking in Brisbane for investments will see good value in the northern beaches, particularly beachfront apartments.
• 2009 will be better than 2008.

If you find any of these predictions hard to believe, for some buildings they are already true. For example, today:

• Small Off-the-plan 2 bedroom apartments in Brisbane, in Evolution, at 75 sqm, are selling for over $650,000.
• Two bedroom apartments are selling in Quay West, Arbour on Grey, Admiralty One and Admiralty Two for more than $700,000.
• Trilogy, in Spring Hill, has two bedroom apartments (less than 80 sqm, but with views) listed at more than $600,000. [However, a number of contracts have fallen through, as the valuations have come back $40,000 or so less than contract price.)
• New two bedroom apartments with river views in West End and Milton (e.g. in Flow and in Coronation Residences), which are not prime locations, are selling for more than $900,000.
• Off-the-plan apartments (two bedrooms, at least 85 sqm) are selling in quality developments in Indooroopilly, Toowong and Sherwood today for well more than $550,000.
• People have signed contracts for 2 bedroom apartments in Vision (e.g., level 35, 120 sqm) for more than $1,000,000. Settlement, if this building ever gets off the ground, will not be until 2011.
• The price range for a large 2 bedroom apartment in Mirvac's Tennyson Reach is $900,000 to $1,100,000. Settlement in 2010.
• Off-the-plan 2 bedroom apartments in Soul on the Gold Coast are, at a minimum, $1,800,000. Settlement not at least until 2011.

So I will not be selling in 2008.

Brisbane Apartment Sales

Koko (a Stockland development)
Apartment 238 - Greenwich Building - 2 bed 2 bath pool view - sold at auction on 1 December 2007 for $553,000

Arbour On Grey (a Mirvac development)
Apartment 1320 = Stage One, 3rd floor, 3 bedrooms - Sold for $1,100,000
Apartment 2214 = Stage Two, 2nd floor, 3 bedrooms - Sold for $962,500
Third floor, 2 bedroom apartment recently sold for more than $700,000

1901/132 Alice St, Brisbane - $850,000 (Quay West)
206/132 Alice St, Brisbane - $750,000 (Quay West)

Others:

112/293 North Quay, Brisbane - $215,000 (North Quay)

1009/128 Charlotte St, Brisbane - $370,000 (Charlotte Towers)

245/420 Queen St, Brisbane - $477,000 (Aurora Tower)

4020/255 Ann St, Brisbane - $293,000 (Rendezvous)

705/35 Astor Terrace, Spring Hill - $425,000 (The Astor)

3001/255 Ann St, Brisbane - $310,000 (Rendezvous Hotel)

2006/108 Albert St, Brisbane - $305,000 (Festival Towers)

3003/108 Albert St, Brisbane - $435,000 (Festival Towers)

3008/128 Charlotte St, Brisbane - $571,500 (Charlotte Towers)

2101/92 Quay St, Brisbane - $395,000 (Vue)

Flow West End

There is always a risk buying off the plan. Typically, that risk is off-set by getting a lower price -- i.e., buying at today's prices, but not having to pay until tomorrow.

That does not always hold true, if the initial pricing is too high. One example of an overpriced off the plan development was FKP's Vue, where a number of people appear to have sold recently for less than they paid off the plan.

Pradella is pricing its off-the-plan developments aggressively. One example is Flow at West End. Flow has been marketed off the plan for a number of years. Today's prices are about the same as one of the original price lists published over a year ago. A price list from 2006 is here. Settlement is in 4 weeks. There are some really nice apartments in Flow, and they are larger than normal. The better views are to the west, however.

This is one development where it looks like waiting until settlement (unless you got an insiders price or discount) would have been best in relation to price. However, most of the good apartments have sold, so waiting is not necessarily the best thing to do if that is where you would like to live!

Some Flow apartments listed for sale today (developer stock):

• Apt 31, 3 bed, 4th floor, river views $1,425,000 (price was $1,375,000)
• Apt 23, 3 bed, 3rd floor $1,405,000 (price was $1,380,000)
• Apt 57, 2 bed, 2rd floor $970,000 (price was $970,000)
• Apt 13, 2 bed, 1st floor $890,000 (price was $840,000)
• Apt 51, 2 bed, 1st floor $890,000 (price was $930,000)
• Apt 52, 3 bed, 1st floor $1,275,000 (price was $1,250,000)
• Apt 14, 2 bed, 1st floor, $695,000 (price was $685,000)

Vue Apartments on Coronation Drive

FKP's Vue apartment complex is not having much luck. There are two towers, one owned and marketed by FKP, and the other owner by private investors and marketed by Ray White (originally marketed by FKP on their behalf).

The complex did not sell out, and still has a number of apartments for sale.

Possibly, it is because of the location. On the corner of Coronation Drive and the Inner City ByPass. Soon, a new bridge will be built right across the river in front of the complex.

The prices for the unsold apartments have been reduced.

At the end of August 2007, one of the best three bedroom apartments went to auction. It is on the 8th floor with river views. It was originally marketed in the high $700,000s, and it sold for $562,000. Other similar apartments are still for sale at about $660,000.

Details: 2806/92-100 Quay St, sold by RE/MAX Property Centre, sold at auction for $562,000.

FKP is currently selling SL8 in West End, which is one street back from the River and behind Tempo (still with unsold apartments) and LeftBank (completed 2004).

FKP will soon launch a complex to be built over the Milton Railway Station and next to the brewery. It is to be called Union at Milton.