Showing posts with label fresh. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fresh. Show all posts

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Is Median House Price Data Useful?

There are many newspaper reports that discuss rising or falling house & apartment prices by reference to the median sales price for a particular period.  For example, see this recent report from REIQ.  The median price is the middle price of all the properties sold in the defined period.  (For example, if there were 5 sales in the period, for $1, $10, $1000, $1001 and $6409, then the median is $1,000.)

If you select a different length of time to measure the median, you get a different result of course.  For example, according to REIQ, the median sales price for Brisbane apartments (all of Brisbane local government area) for January 2012 to March 2012 was $387,750.  The median for April 2011 to March 2012 was $395,000.

The median is not the average price.  (The average for the example above is $1484.)  See also here and here.

The statistics only look at the properties that were sold in the period.  If the median changes, it does not necessarily mean that the value of any particular property has changed.  For example, if in one quarter, there are many two bedroom apartments that are sold, and in the next quarter, there are mostly one bedroom apartments that are sold, then the median price is likely to decrease.  If a new off-the-plan development settles in the period, then the median is likely to increase for that period and decrease for the next period.

So how reliable are the recent REIQ statistics?  I had a look at a number of the more larger, upmarket and top end apartment buildings, and there are no or few reported sales for the relevant period (January 2012 to March 2012).  For example:
  • Admiralty Towers Two - no recorded sales
  • The Grosvenor - no recorded sales
  • Quay West - only one sale, a 1 bedroom.
  • Admiralty Quays - only one sale, a 1 bedroom
  • Riparian - 1 reported sale, a 2 bedroom
  • Metro 21 - 2 reported sales (1 bedroom & 2 bedroom)
  • Admiralty Towers One - no sales on direct riverfront side of building
  • Fresh Taringa - no sales since October 2010
  • Riva Indooroopilly - no sales in more than 12 months
  • For the above, there were no 3 bedroom sales at all.
It seems that the larger and more expensive apartments are not being sold.  Thus, the median price will be less than periods where there are more of these apartments that are being sold.  That the larger or more expensive apartments are not being sold could be for a number of reasons:  (A)  They may be listed for sale, but not selling because the owner does not want to or need to decrease price. (B) These buildings have more owner-occupiers, who do not sell as often.  (C) If rented, the rents are good, and so selling for a lower price makes less sense than renting out the apartment.  (D) An owner who needs to sell may decide to rent the apartment for a short period, until prices rise.  (E)  There may be no buyers at the high end of the market.

So it is hard to determine if the apartment values have fallen for the kinds of apartments that are not often sold, and if so, by how much.  Also, the median price decease for Brisbane may be because of a change in mix of the apartments that are being sold.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Sam Vecchio

An interesting decision regarding Sam Vecchio, who is the developer of the Rive apartment complex at Breakfast Creek.  Sam Vecchio's prior development was Fresh at Taringa.  A bad job was done on the stippling, and a few years later, it is still not fixed.  Vecchio has stacked the body corporate committee with family members, some of whom do not turn up to meetings.  Vecchio's business practices have been called into question.  As the Commissioner has found:  "The applicant disputes the committee resolution on the basis there is a conflict of interest between the committee member, Sam Vecchio, and Phoenix Drywall (the individual selected to perform the repairs). The applicant says Phoenix Drywall is currently working for Sam Vecchio. ... I am satisfied a serious legal question exists as to whether the costs involved in the resolution dated 16 March 2012 are reasonable."  See decision.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Improving Market?

It is useful to look at recent sales of apartments, and compare the price at which the apartment sold with the price that the vendor originally paid for the apartment.  In find this is more useful than looking at medium or average prices.  For example, if a building has a mix of 1 and 2 bedroom apartments, and for the last six months, only 1 bedroom apartments are sold, then the medium price will decrease.  This does not tell us whether the 1 bedroom apartments went up or down in value.

I recently had a look at sales in the Fresh Apartment building on boundary where Taringa mets Toowong, at 20 Campbell Street.   This building had its carpark flooded in the 2011 floods, but no apartments had water in.  The two magnificent pools were not flooded either.  It was developed by Vecchio, who is currently developing Rive Apartments (see post above.)

Apt 20:.  This apartment is 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 120 sqm (85 internal, 35 balcony).  In March 2007, it was advertised off-the-plan for $459,000.  The next year, it was still for sale off-the-plan for $504,000.  It was sold by the developer in May 2008 for $566,000 (probably this was above market price).  The first owner then resold it in November 2009 for $537,000.

Apt 23:  This is a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment, with a North East Aspect over the pool.  It is 148 sqm in total. It was sold off-the-plan for $669,000 in July 2007.  It resold in September 2011 for $569,000.

Apt 54:  This is a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom penthouse apartment.  It is 117 sqm internal plus a large 84 sqm balcony..  It sold off-the-plan in April 2007 for $807,000.  It resold in August 2011 for $600,000.

So take care when buying off the plan or from a developer.

Friday, January 14, 2011

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.

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, 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)