Showing posts with label soleil. Show all posts
Showing posts with label soleil. Show all posts

Monday, March 14, 2016

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

Sunday, August 2, 2015

Recent Brisbane City Apartment Sales

Some example recent sales in Brisbane city apartment buildings.  Some buildings are tightly held and have few sales.

Quay West - 132 Alice Street
  • Apt 88, 1 bed, 1 bath, 1 car, park views - $512,000 in June 2015
  • Apt 50, 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - $705,000 in February 2015
Admiralty Towers 1 - 35 Howard Street
  • Apt 119, 3 bed, 2 bath, 2 cars, river front - $1,240,000 in February 2015
Admiralty Towers 2 - 501 Queen Street
  • Apt 78, 3 bed, 2 bath, 2 cars, river front - $1,100,000 in March 2015
Charlotte Towers - 128 Charlotte Street
  • Apt 3701, 1 bed, 1 bath - $368,000 in July 2015
  • Apt 2504, 1 bed, 1 bath, 1 car - $436,000 in July 2015
  • Apt 1702, 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - $545,000 in Juune 2015
Casino Towers - 151 George Street
  • Apt 2101, 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - $872,000 in July 2015
  • Apt 1506, 1 bed, 1 bath, 1 car - $334,000 in July 2015
  • Apt 2104, 1 bed, 1 bath - $384,750 in June 2015
  • Apt 1307, 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - $480,000 in June 2015
Riverplace - 82 Boundary Street
  • Apt 288 - 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - $740,000 in July 2015
  • Apt 38 - 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - $677,500 in June 2015
Soleil - 501 Adelaide Street
  • Apt 5501, 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - $695,000 in July 2015

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Win an apartment in Soleil

RSL Art Unions are giving away, in an art union, apartment 5304 in Soleil.  This is a 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment, no balcony, at 83 sqm, located on level 53.

RSL Art Unions paid $570,000 for this apartment in June 2014.  They have included about $40,000 of furniture.  They estimate rental returns of $39,000 a year, which is $750 a week -- that is a little high in my view.

Friday, October 17, 2014

Legal Claim Against Meriton

A Meriton construction company is being sued by a body corporate for building defects.

"BILLIONAIRE developer Harry Triguboff is at the centre of a legal battle with a body corporate over who should foot a $2 million repair bill for one of his Southport residential high rises."

Meriton is also the developer of the Infinity and Soleil towers in Brisbane.

See Gold Coast Business News

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Meriton Soleil Resales - Some up, some down

It is interesting to see how resales have gone for off-the-plan purchasers in Meriton's Soleil (501 Adelaide St, Brisbane).  Some original buyers have profited, and some have lost.  I am not convinced that the risk in buying off-the-plan, when you can't see the view or quality or feel of the apartment, is worth it, when it seems that there is a good chance that you can buy the same apartment when complete for less.

Apt 5304 - Sold off-the plan in June 2009 for $543,000, resold in June 2014 for the same price.  This is a loss, because of stamp duty and agent's selling fees.

Apt 2403 - Sold off-the plan in August 2012 for $493,725, resold in April 2014 for $525,000.

Apt 5505 - Sold off-the plan in August 2009 for $669,240, resold in April 2014 for $600,000.

Apt 5604 - Sold off-the plan in November 11 for $586,000, resold in April 2014 for $565,000.

Apt 4404 - Sold off-the plan in April 2012 for $485,000, resold in April 2014 for $572,000.

Apt 4004 - Sold off-the plan in March 2009 for $502,000, resold in March 2014 for $570,000.

Saturday, September 14, 2013

I just don't understand

It seems to me that newer apartments are overpriced.  One example.
You can buy a year old apartment in Meriton's Soleil as follows:
  • 93 sqm internal
  • No balconey
  • Air conditioning not ducted
  • 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
  • Facing West, so hot in the summer
  • General views of an ugly part of Brisbane
  • Large, impersonal building, used as a hotel
  • Your neighbour may be an Eastern European hooker or a football team on tour
  • Price = $629,000 (apartment 4403) - $6,763 a sqm
Or you could buy an apartment in River Place:
  • 113 sqm total
  • Massive balconey
  • Riverfront
  • 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
  • Outdoor pool overlooking the river
  • Price - $659,000 (apartment 54) - $5,831 a sqm
Or you could buy an apartment in Quay West:
  • 130 sqm total
  • Two balconies
  • Ducted air-conditioning
  • About 130 apartments in building
  • Views of botanical gardens
  • 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
  • Price - about $600,000 - $4,615 a sqm
It will be interesting to see what this apartment sells for in Admiralty One:
  • 130 sqm in total
  • Balconey
  • Direct riverfront
  • Ducted air-conditioning
  • 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, separate laundry room
  • North Eastern view
  • About 120 apartments in the building
  • Auction -- there has not been a similar apartment sold in this building for years.
Why would you buy in Soleil?  Or in some of the currently marketed off-the-plan developments, when some of the "older" apartments are cheaper on the price per sqm basis, and in better locations?

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Saturday, February 2, 2013

Capital Loss in Meriton's Soleil

Take care when buying off the plan!  At present, Meriton is marking Infinity, a tall apartment tower in the Roma Street area of Brisbane City.  Let's look at an example of an investor in Meriton's prior apartment tower, Soleil.

Apartment 6003 was purchased by a Sydney investor in September 2010, off the plan, for $640,000.  It is a two bedroom apartment with study, on level 60.  None of the apartments in Soleil (or Infinity) have balconies.  The apartment is 93 sqm, a good size, but faces West.

This apartment has been on the market for a number of months.  Ray White now has it listed for sale, at $575,000.  With stamp duty and agent's fees, a capital loss of at least $80,000 or more than 10%.

This is what Ray White says in an email:

Unit 6003/501 Adelaide Street, Brisbane – 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, study, 1 car + storage
Please see below links to the property internet listing along with a link to the floor plan:
6003/501 Adelaide Street, Brisbane - Internet Link
6003/501 Adelaide Street, Brisbane - Interactive Floor Plan Link
This property is open for inspection today 2nd February 2013 from 1:30-2pm. 
We also have another property on the market in Soleil, Unit 4803/501 Adelaide Street, Brisbane which is a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment with a study and 1 car space. 
At the end of 2012 we sold Unit 5204/501 Adelaide Street, Brisbane for $570,000 [the vendor had paid $540,000] along with many other sales within the Admiralty Precinct throughout the year.
We currently have buyers that are interested in acquiring quality properties within the Soleil and the Admiralty Precinct.

Friday, December 14, 2012

Soleil Sale

The Soleil apartment building in Brisbane has been complete for some time, but there are still many apartments that are unsold.  (One of the developer's associated companies appears to have purchased a number of the apartments.)  The developer, Meriton, is having another sale for those apartments that it has decided not to keep.  From what I can tell, for Australian buyers, all prices are negotiable.


Saturday, September 1, 2012

Meriton's Soleil - original buyers under water

I have re-looked at Meriton's Soleil apartments, now that they have finished.  If you like high apartments with great views, then the upper floors are for you.  The two bedroom apartments on the higher floors are nice apartments.

Positive aspects:
  • good floor plans
  • reasonable size (87 sqm internal)
  • includes blinds
  • floor to ceiling tiles in bathroom
  • bath and separate shower
  • linen cupboard
  • floor to ceiling windows with fantastic views
  • good ceiling height
Negative aspects:
  • building also used as short term stay "hotel"
  • lobby includes hotel check-in desk
  • only 3 elevators to upper floors
  • no balcony
  • indoor pool, shared with hotel guests
  • no central air con -- head-end on apartment wall
Pricing at present for a two bedroom on higher floors is in the $615,000 to $650,000 range, with stamp duty rebated, plus other offers available.

Looking at settled sales, it appears that off-the-plan purchasers paid more for similar apartments than those currently for sale.  But it is hard to tell, because the developer has rent guarantees, discounts, rebates and cheap vendor financing.  Looking at the 01 floor plan on the higher levels (which is a good 2 bedroom floor plan):

Apt 5001 - sold in 2012 to interstate investor for $635,000 
Apt 5101 - sold in 2012 to owner occupier for $650,000
Apt 5301 - listed for sale at $627,000
Apt 5401 - sold in 2012 to Brisbane resident for $599,000
Apt 5501 - sold in 2009 to Queensland investor for $790,000
Apt 5601 - sold in 2009 to Brisbane resident for $759,000
Apt 5701 - sold in 2012 to owner occupier for $670,000
Apt 5801 - sold in 2011 for $837,500
Apt 5901 - listed for sale at $631,000
Apt 6001 - listed for sale at $636,000
Apt 6101 - sold in 2009 to foreign investor for $829,000
Apt 6201 - sold in 2009 to foreign investor for $834,000
Apt 6301 - sold in 2009 to foreign investor for $843,000
Apt 6401 - list for sale for $651,000

Shows that there is a big risk buying off the plan, with some investors now $200,000 behind.

Inner City Apartments For Sale

Some apartments for sale in Brisbane City.

River Place, 82 Boundary Street (riverfront)
Apt 253, 1 bed plus study, 1 car park, level 28, 83 sqm, $495,000
With stamp duty - $510,750
$6,153 sqm
Rates $1,300 a year; body corporate $6,300 a year
Assume rent of $570 a week ($520 a week after agent's fees)
Net return per year - $19,440 per year before interest (3.8% return).

Apt 275, 1 bed plus study, 1 car park, 83 sqm, $505,000
With stamp duty - $521,100
$6,278 per sqm
Rates $2,200 a year; body corporate $5,950 a year
Assume rent of $570 a week ($520 a week after agent's fees)
Net return per year - $18,890 per year before interest (3.6% return).

Apt 185, 1 bed plus study, 1 car park, 81 sqm, $489,000
With stamp duty - $504,540
$6,229 per sqm
Rates $2,200 a year; body corporate $5,950 a year
Assume rent of $530 a week ($485 a week after agent's fees)
Net return per year - $17,070 per year before interest (3.4% return).

Apt 123, 2 bed 2 bath, 1 car park, 110 sqm, $689,000
With stamp duty - $713,030
$6,482 per sqm
Rates $2,447 a year; body corporate $6,600 a year
Assume rent of $660 a week ($610 a week after agent's fees)
Net return per year - $22,673 per year before interest (3.2% return).

Meriton's Soleil - new apartments (not riverfront)
Apt 5301, 2 bed 2 bath, 1 car park, 87 sqm, level 53, list price $627,000, but may discount to $615,000
Stamp duty refunded by developer
$7,068 per sqm
Rates $2,400 a year; body corporate $5,200 a year
Assume rent of $700 a week ($665 a week after agent's fees)
Net return per year - $26,980 per year before interest (4.3% return).

Assume that you can lock in an interest rate of 5.55% for 3 years (e.g., with BOQ), then you will be making a loss on all these investments after interest payments.

The above also assumes that these apartments will sell at the list price, which is an incorrect assumption, so the returns will be slightly better than stated above.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Macrossan Residences Sale

I bet well-known Brisbane solicitor and Labor Party identity Con Sciacca is not happy.  He purchased an apartment off-the-plan in 2008 in Macrossan Apartments for $1,835,000.  The developer went bankrupt, and the remaining apartments have been bought by an investor, who is listing them for resale at "Almost $1 million below what they cost."
"Were Selling for up to $3M, Now Priced from $1.395M to $1.575M"

(I suspect that the real estate agent is exaggerating slightly - I doubt that the same apartment that Con purchased would sell for less than $1M.  So the million dollar discount is a bit of a stretch.  Video here.)

These discounts make it hard for an original buyer to resell without making a huge loss.

In any event, even these discounted prices are high for a 3 bedroom apartment that is not riverfront and that is sandwiched by Skyline and Soleil.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Soleil Review

I recently visited an apartment in Soleil, which is in the Meriton pool.  Meriton is running a short term rental business out of Soleil, and so the ground floor lobby looked more like that of a cheap hotel than a residential apartment building.

I visited a one bedroom apartment.  It was very small.  Basically, two rooms.  A small bedroom, and a living room with a kitchen along the wall.  So really, a bedroom and a kitchen.  The kitchen/living room/dining room was very crowded even with the minimal hotel furniture.  You were sitting very close to the TV when on the sofa.

There are no balconies, and the windows only partly open.

No ducted airconditioning.  There is a split system, with an ugly head-end in the living room.

There were strange bangs and mysterious deep noises coming from the walls and the common hallway areas.  I could not determine what these noises were, but they were very annoying.

Overall, my opinion is not positive.  I was very unimpressed.

The building has a Facebook page, if you want to become friends with this apartment building.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Chinese Retreat

"Australia’s largest apartment developer, Harry Triguboff, has confirmed that Chinese buying of inner-Sydney apartments has halved in the last month. The China squeeze on its property market and fears about the level of our dollar are now having a direct effect on the Australian dwelling market. 

Triguboff believes that the sharp cutback in Chinese apartment demand will probably reduce apartment prices in Sydney by about 10%, but the prices will not collapse. He believes that a fall in apartment prices will flow on to the whole dwelling market in Sydney."
Full story here.
Harry Triguboff is the owner of Meriton, that is developing  two massive apartment towers in Brisbane, Soleil and Infinity, where most of the buyers are reported to be Chinese.  It is uncertain what impact China will have on the Brisbane apartment market.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Soleil's Pricing Not Holding Up?

Meriton's Soleil is partly completed, with settlements reportedly having occurred on the lower floors.  The top part of the building is still under construction.

Another blog reports that Meriton's list prices for Soleil are decreasing (I have not verified these numbers):

"1 July
Studio $350,000
1 Bedroom $380,000

25 July
Studio $340,000
1 Bedroom $375,000

11 August
Studio $330,000
1 Bedroom $365,000

1 November
STUDIO $306,000 - $325,000
1 BEDROOM $325,000 - $445,000
2 BEDROOM + CAR SPACE $565,000 - $818,000
2 BED + STUDY + CAR SPACE $653,000 - $689,000
3 BEDROOM + 2 CAR SPACES $750,000 - $877,000

4.5% Vendor Finance
$10,000 QLD Building Boost
$17,000 First Home Owner Bonus"


Listed on Domain today:
As stated in a prior blog post, most buyers appear to be offshore buyers from China, and at the current sales rate, it will take 2 to 3 years for Meriton to sell all its stock in this building.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Meriton Soleil to operate as hotel

Tonight is the official opening of Meriton's Soleil apartment building in Brisbane.  It is going to be run as a hotel, with short stay guests, not as a residential apartment building.  It is aimed at both business travellers and holiday makers. I feel sorry for people who purchased apartments here to live in full time.  The hotel opens next week.

"Meriton Serviced Apartments will launch our in-demand and much anticipated hotel-style accommodation in Brisbane City in September 2011. Meriton Apartments two high-rise developments will change the Brisbane skyline and our serviced apartments will bring a fresh and much needed option to the city for both business and leisure travelers."
See Meriton website

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Soleil Update


Meriton's Soleil building in Adelaide Street, Brisbane, appears to have reached full height. It is tall and skinny. The building is 74 floors, 234 metres, and has 464 apartments. Meriton is not selling the top 10 floors or so, and will rent them out (I suspect on a short term basis).

I have looked at the sales board, and tried to work out the number of apartments for sale. This is my estimate:

Studios - 27 in total, 12 remaining for sale
One bedrooms - 234 in total, 132 remaining for sale
Two bedrooms - 168 in total, 45 remaining for sale
Three bedrooms - 35 in total, 17 remaining for sale
Thus, in total, there are 206 out of 464 remaining for sale, or 44%.
(These numbers assume that the top 10 floors, or 42 apartments, are not for sale.)

So one can conclude that since the launch of the selling campaign for this building in October 2008, 46% of the apartments in the building have sold. At this selling rate, it will take another 2 to 3 years to sell the available unsold apartments in this building. Anyone who buys off-the-plan and needs to sell soon will be competing with the developer selling new stock for some time to come.

The building has some downsides. Having so many apartments, there will always be apartments for sale or rent. The facilities, such as the gym, will have to service a huge number of residents. Image trying to book the 12 seat theatre or the meeting room, when you are competing with 460 other apartments. Also, are there enough elevators? Also, there is no ducted air-conditioning -- there are split system air-conditioning units, with headends in some rooms, and the fan unit located in a service area on the floor.

Example pricing:
  • Apt 1802, 1 bed, 51 sqm = $402,000
  • Apt 2207, 1 bed, 51 sqm = $426,000
  • Apt 2703, 2 bed, 70 sqm = $572,000
  • Apt 5701, 2 bed, 80 sqm = $807,000
  • Apt 5002, 3 bed, 103 sqm = $852,000
In my view, for this size and quality apartment, the pricing is expensive.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Harry is Happy about Soleil

"FOR "high-rise" Harry Triguboff, it doesn't get much better than this. Despite the downturn in residential property, especially in once white-hot Brisbane, Mr Triguboff says business has rarely been so brisk.

He explains with more than a hint of satisfaction how the Australian property dream is changing -- trading up, he argues, from the quarter-acre block in the suburbs to an eyrie in the centre of town.

His 74-storey Soleil tower, at 280m, will be Brisbane's tallest building by the time it is completed this year. But its record will stand for only three years, as Mr Triguboff is building an even bigger residential tower on the other side of the Brisbane CBD.

Soleil will be Australia's eighth tallest building when it opens later this year, but there are several within metres of each other. Soleil will be able to house 2000 people, right on the edge of the CBD, while it would take about 500 homes, the equivalent of a small suburb, to house them in detached cottages. The Brisbane inner-city high-rise market, where Mr Triguboff will soon be king, has had two major tower proposals withdrawn in the past few years, with developers unable to get either the finance or the customers. "I think a thing like this should be self-funded, because otherwise you have all these banks worrying and pushing you," he said.

"It's hard to say what the market's like, because you build this building for a few years, so when you start it could be very bad and when you finish it could be a lot better."

Property analysts say that, with the limited number of developments this year, the increasing demand predicted by Mr Triguboff means rental rates for apartments in the inner city are likely to rise."

Full Story in The Australian and video

With 2000 people in Soleil, I hope Harry has included enough elevators!


Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Monday, May 23, 2011

Most Popular Posts

One of the most popular posts in recent times has been a short note about Alex Perry Residential. The post is here. I suspect that the developers would be thrilled about the interest this development is generating.

The three most popular posts of all time are (1) a post from May 2008 about the then proposed Soleil Tower from Meriton, and (2) a short post from May 2010 about flood maps, and (3) a post from January 2011 about the Brisbane floods.

This month, this blog passes 200,000 all time page views. Thank you readers for your support and comments.


Thursday, April 21, 2011

Off-the-plan apartment risks

I have previously written about the risks of purchasing off the plan apartments. See this post for example. Others have also written about these risks. See this article for example.

The May edition of Australian Property Investor had a good story about the oversupply of inner city Melbourne high rise, which is also worth reading. See "High on High-rise". One point made is that many of the apartment buildings planned for Melbourne are aimed at being sold to investors, not owner occupiers. This is resulting in the wrong type of apartments being built and the article predicts that these apartments will not grown in value.

A similar issue is revealed in a story in The Australian today regarding Meriton apartments. Meriton is currently building two very tall high rise apartment buildings in Brisbane, Soleil and Infinity. Meriton reports that sales have mostly been to Chinese investors, who have stopped buying. Meriton says that it is Chinese investors who purchase most of the off-the-plan apartments in Australia. There is a clear risk in buying an apartment as an investment in such circumstances. As I have previously written, it is best to buy in a building where there are a large percentage of owner-occupiers in the building.

"Mr Triguboff said prices in the overheated Chinese property market were starting to fall, while the Australian dollar continued its stellar run, making Australian property increasingly expensive compared with China.

"Our (real estate) market is the Chinese market, just like coal and iron ore," Mr Triguboff said.

"We need lower interest rates so that our dollar drops and it stimulates growth."

Mr Triguboff, whose Meriton Apartments builds more than 1000 units a year, said Chinese owners and investors had accounted for about 75 per cent of Meriton sales for the last two to three years.

But in the past month, numbers had fallen steeply. ..."