Showing posts with label ciana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ciana. Show all posts

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Recent Apartment Sales in Brisbane Suburbs

Ciana Indooroopilly (all sales from original developer)
  • Apt 29, 2 bed, 2 bath, 2 cars, top floor, sold on 21 February 2013 for $555,000
  • Apt 86, 2 bed, 2 bath, 2 cars, top floor, sold on 1 February 2013 for $560,000
  • Apt 58, 3 bed, 2 bath,  top floor, sold on 1 February 2013 for $652,500
  • Apt 49, 2 bed, 2 bath, 2 cars, top floor, sold on 1 February 2013 for $450,000
Riva Indooroopilly (Pradella development)
  • Apt 5, 1 bedroom, ground floor, sold in February for $376,000 (seller had paid $245,000 in 2004)
Parklands Sherwood (Pradella development)
  • Apt 202, 2 bed, 2 bath, large study, ground floor, sold for $370,000 (seller had paid $476,000 in 2009).

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Stelvio Windsor

I received an email from an agent recently who is marketing a new apartment development at Windsor, called Stelvio.  It is a 33 apartment complex.  A colourful brochure (which includes a nice picture of a bird) is here.

The Stelvio complex has two buildings, one with an elevator and the other building is a walk-up.

Two bedroom two bathroom apartments are 85sqm internal, and with the balcony, the total floorspace is 99sqm.  The pricing is $520,000 to $550,000 with 1 car park.  An extra $40,000 for two car parks.  Estimated rents are $475 a week.

This seems to be a very bad investment to me.  But it is being pushed by financial advisors.  According to this website, the project was launched in August 2011, but not year sold out.  (I wonder why?)

Compare Stelvio to an existing apartment complex, not in Windsor (because there are few larger complexes in Windsor) but in Indooroopilly, which in my view is better located.  The complex I selected for the comparison is Ciana, which is about 3 years old, and has a pool and a gym, and a track record of full tenancy occupancy:

Apt 56 in Ciana is for sale, 2 bed, 2 bath, 2 car parks, 89 sqm internal, 109 sqm total, being listed for sale at $495,000, rented at over $520 a week.

Compare Apt 56 to Stelvio.  The apartments are a similar size, but the balcony in Ciana is double the size.  The rent in Ciana is greater.  Stelvio's pricing with 2 car parks is at least $560,000, more than $60,000 more than Apt 56 in Ciana.  Why pay more for a smaller apartment that gets less rent?

Or compare Apt 29 in Ciana, 2 bed, 2 bath, 2 car parks, 164 sqm total area, being sold furnished for $595,000, rented at $750 a week.  Or this apartment, for $450,000.  Or this?

It doesn't seem good value or good financial sense to buy a new Stelvio apartment when comparing it to an existing newish apartment.  So I wonder why financial planners are pushing Stelvio?

Friday, May 6, 2011

Eden in Albion

Arden Property from Brookfield is developing Eden at Albion. Prices start at $325,000. Arden also developed Ciana Indooroopilly, which is a good looking low rise development.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Good Size Two Bedroom Apartments in Brisbane

I have been asked recently as to which apartment buildings have good sized two bedroom apartments in inner Brisbane. Not including the super luxury apartments (such as Riparian, or Coronation Residences (169 sqm)), the following list of Brisbane apartments gives some examples of larger two bedroom apartments (all including balcony, not including car park or storage rooms):
There are others, and I would be happy to add to this list with more examples.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Real Estate Marketing Videos

I like the fact that some agents use YouTube videos to market their properties. Here are some examples:

Quay West, Alice Street, 2 bedrooms

Ciana, 2 bedrooms

Ciana, 2 bedroom listed at $530,000:



Sunday, March 21, 2010

Apartments for Sale in Brisbane

I looked at RealEstate.com.au to see what good apartments are for sale at present. These are quality apartments, in my view, and are relatively new. This is a good comparison when looking at off-the-plan developments and other apartments. All include car parking.

Two bedrooms
  • Saville Southbank - 9th floor, river and city views, 127 sqm in total, listed at $780,000
  • Quay West, 10th floor, 126 sqm, park views, just listed in the $700s with Colliers
  • Parksland Sherwood, top floor, park and city views, one year old, includes separate study that could be used as third bedroom. 110 sqm in total, listed at $530,000
  • Fresh Toowong, one year old, two pools, 134 sqm, listed at $555,000
  • Riva Indooroopilly, river views, but only one bathroom, 90 sqm, listed at $535,000
  • Ciana Indooroopilly, includes separate study that could be used as third bedroom, huge balcony, over 150sqm, listed at $649,000
Larger One bedroom in buildings about 10 years old

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Finding a Good Apartment to Rent in Brisbane

Introduction

Even though the vacancy rate is increasing in Brisbane, many of the good apartments for rent are hard to find. Often, this is because the existing tenant does not leave, and when they do become available, are snapped up quickly. For the better buildings, a large percentage of the apartments are occupied by the owner, and so are not rented out. Also, onsite managers often control the rental rolls, and don't often advertise on the usual property websites (as they don't need to do so). Some have their own website. Also, onsite managers may have a relationship with executive relocation services, that are fed the better apartments.

At one time, a good specialist website for apartments was http://www.seqrents.com.au However, it seems that some buildings are not using this site anymore, or are not bothering to update their listing on this site. So, although useful, it is less useful.

The largest number of listings are located on RealEstate.com.au, but a number of onsite managers do not use this website.

You have to find out how each manager advertises his/her vacancy.

Generally, you want to avoid any buildings managed by Oaks, as they focus on short term hotel style rentals.

Also, look at the posts and links on this blog. This website has a list of most city apartment buildings, with useful information and links about them. Also, try this customized search engine.

Inner City Brisbane:

I recommend Arbour on Grey at SouthBank: http://arbour.com.au/cms/welcome.html

Also, Saville at SouthBank is one of the nicest buildings if you get a river facing apartment: http://www.seqrents.com.au/saville/index.htm. The best thing to do here is call, because the website is not updated regularly. Telephone 07 3305 2559

If you want to live downtown, then I recommend the Admiralty Precinct. This comprises three first-tier buildings (Admiralty One, Admiralty Two and Admiralty Quays), plus River Place (good location, not as good quality) and Skyline (second tier).

Admiralty One is good value, and has some of the largest two bedroom apartments in Brisbane - http://www.admiraltyone.com.au/

Admiralty Two also has good sized apartments, and the building has great facilities. http://www.admiraltytwo.com.au/

Admiralty Quays is newer, and has a great pool, but the apartments are smaller. and it is more expensive. http://www.admiraltyquays.com/

Nearby on the river in the city is River Place, that is not as good quality, but is likely to have availability as this is a large complex. Careful of Storey Bridge noise. Great views.

On Alice Street in the city, if you can get an apartment in Quay West, that is fantastic, as it has park and river views -- for long term rentals, the best agent to try is Blockside & Fergerson for this building. Half of this building is a hotel managed, so it is easy to get short term accommodation in Quay West. All apartments are privately owned. You want to get above level 7.

For an inner city downtown building, Metro 21 is one of the better quality buildings. It has only 4 apartments per floor -- and tries to be more upmarket so is better than most buildings that aim at students -- it seems to have better availability, and some of the two bedroom apartments have three bathrooms. The baloneys are large: http://www.realestate.com.au/realestate/agent/metro+21+brisbane/mlibri
and http://www.metro21apartments.com.au/

Apartments in Suburbs

The suburbs that I recommend, due to location, transport and large number of better quality apartments, are Toowong, St Lucia, Taringa, Indooroopilly and possibly Milton and Hamilton. I don't recommend Chermside.

The newest complex in the Toowong / Taringa area is Fresh. This complex has two pools, a gym and great gardens. http://www.realestate.com.au/realestate/agent/acorn+realty+taringa/nrqhzu

Next door to Fresh is Encore, which is a relatively nice complex, with good pricing (but not as nice as Fresh, and some of the apartments are small). http://www.seqrents.com.au/encore/

St Lucia is harder to find quality -- there are few onsite managers. So you have to try local real estate agents, such as Ray White (who also has listings in Fresh).

In Indooroopilly, there has been recent construction, so there are a number of new, quality buildings. My two picks are Riva and Ciana.

Riva has apartments with great river views. It is a quiet building, with a pool, and is close to the train station and Indooroopilly Shopping Centre http://www.seqrents.com.au/riva/

Ciana is a larger new complex, in a central location, with many large apartments. There is a pool and gym, plus a bowls club! http://www.ciana.com.au/

If you want an apartment complex that feels more suburban, then Parklands at Sherwood is a great choice. Many apartments have park/rural views, and there is a great pool and bbq area http://www.centralsherwood.com.au/.

Nearby is Tennyson Reach, where you can get a large new apartment on the river. This is a new complex, but (apart from river views) not a great location.

This is a list by a selling agent about various inner city buildings:
http://www.openhouserealty.com.au/html/residential/21/apartment-buildings

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Best Buys for Brisbane Suburban Apartments

I have looked around this weekend, and these apartments seem to be good buys:
  • Ciana at Indooroopilly has about 15 new apartments left for sale from developer. Three bedroom apartment for less than $565,000; large two bedroom apartments from $485,000 to $600,000.
  • Parklands Sherwood - large two bedroom with 2 cars and views $535,000
  • Fresh Toowong - large new 2 bedroom garden apartment at $520,000
  • El Dorado off the plan: 2 bedroom apartments less than $600,000
  • Precinct Toowong - mid size furnished two bedroom listed at $529,000
  • Encore Toowong - 1 bedroom garden apartment listed at $339,000
There is also Tennyson Reach, where off the plan purchasers are trying to sell 2 bedroom apartments for $1,200,000 and three bedrooms from $1.6M. Ouch!

Saturday, January 31, 2009

Brisbane Rentals

It is rental season in Brisbane, and there is strong competition for apartments. Many people are delaying a buying decision, and so are renting. Some renters have locked in long term leases, taking these apartments off the market for some time. Some investors have put their apartments into a short term letting pool for nightly "hotel" rentals, taking these away from the permanent rental market.


Rents for decent unfurnished two bedroom apartments are as high as $600 per week. One bedroom apartments in decent complexes are very popular and hard to find. Add $100 a week for a furnished apartment.

If you are looking to rent, here are some ideas:
Also, have a look at this prior post.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Rentals In Brisbane

It is rental season in Brisbane, and there is strong competition for apartments.  Many people are delaying a buying decision, and so are renting.  Some renters have locked in long term leases, taking these apartments off the market for some time.  Some investors have put their apartments into a short term letting pool for nightly "hotel" rentals.

Rents for decent unfurnished two bedroom apartments are as high as $600 per week.  One bedroom apartments in decent complexes are very popular and hard to find.  Add $100 a week for a furnished apartment.

If you are looking to rent, here are some ideas:

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Future Brisbane Apartment Developments

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Ciana At Indooroopilly

I have inspected an apartment at Ciana at Indooroopilly. Although still under construction (completion expected in October 2008), I was pleasantly surprised. I viewed a 2 bedroom 2 bath apartment. It was large -- over 90 sqm internal and a balconey over 30sqm. The layout made the apartment feel large -- a living room in the middle and a bedroom each side. So it had a wide frontage, giving plenty of light. A separate study/utility area. The quality of the kitchen and large bathrooms was high -- with white tiles to the ceiling in the bathrooms. Good views East from the balconey to the residential areas of Indooroopilly. Good location - close to railway, shops, cinema and restaurants.

Ciana

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Brisbane Apartments in the Suburbs

Sometimes, apartments in the suburbs provide better value than city apartments.

If in a good location and near transport, there is a greater pool of possible residents -- students, young city workers, retired couples, single mothers/fathers with one or two children, widows and the like. In other words, people who want convenience, but not the problems with looking after a house; people who want safety and facilities, but not a city apartment.

The areas of Brisbane that I think will have good capital growth over the next five years are:

  • St Lucia -- near the city, Toowong and the University of Queensland. Some apartments have river and city views.
  • Indooroopilly -- many facilities, on a main train line, near excellent schools and the University of Queensland. Some apartments have river and city views.
  • Toowong -- close to the city, with facilities at Toowong Village, and a transport hub.
  • Taringa (between Toowong and Indooroopilly) and on a train line
  • Sherwood -- a nice village atmosphere, only 12 km from the city, and on a train line. Near good parks and schools.

People often say West End will be the next hot spot in Brisbane. My view is that the facilities are not as good as the above. I prefer the Southbank area to West End, as you have city and river views and face north. Most of West End faces West (e.g., see the view here.)

There are big plans for Indooroopilly and Toowong redevelopments. This will drive up prices of existing quality apartments.

But you have to be careful, as there are poor quality apartments or apartments in poor locations (i.e., on major roads) in these areas.

I recommend the following apartments and off-the-plan developments.

Off-the-plan

  • Fresh Apartments in Toowong -- a resort style complex, with two pools (completion in early 2008)
  • Ciana at Indooroopilly -- includes pool, restaurant and club (completion in late 2008)
  • Parklands at Sherwood (completion in 2009) currently in pre-sales, includes pool

Typically, a two bedroom two bathroom apartment in these complexes is about $500,000, and will be about 85 sqm internal, and (in addition) a large balcony of about 30 sqm and airconditioned.

Example existing complexes

  • Riva at Indooroopilly - river views, pool (which are always fully rented)
  • Ikon at Indooroopilly, on Station Road, which is the subject of about 3 or 4 proposed new developments
  • Encore at Toowong pool, close to excellent park (which are always fully rented)