"Continued strong sales performance
• HarbourOne - 98%sold ($137 million in value)
• HarbourTwo - 86% sold ($92 million in value)
• Riverside - 60% sold ($57 million in value)
Construction on schedule for all three towers:
• TowerOne 78% complete
• TowerTwo 63% complete
• TowerThree commenced
Significant progress on mixed-use elements of Hamilton Harbour with strong retail and commercial leasing underway
Construction on Hamilton Harbour is ahead of schedule and under budget with completion of first two towers in first half of FY12
• Hamilton Harbour TowersOne and Two are both ‘topped out’, with fit-out complete on over 60% of apartments
• Construction delivered revenue of $108 million
• Devine Construction awarded $60 million contract to build ‘Riverside’ – the third tower at Hamilton Harbour."
So, Riverside is costing $60 million to build (including profit for the builder); and 60% sold gives $57 million in sales. Looks like a good profit margin here for Devine.
Queensland’s residential property market has regained some of the ground it lost following the natural disasters earlier this year, according to the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ).
The REIQ June quarter median house price report (that deals with houses, not apartments) found that preliminary sales numbers in many areas across the State are on the road to recovery, however, property price growth remains relatively subdued.
While the preliminary number of house sales in Brisbane over the June quarter was up seven per cent compared to the March quarter, the standout for increased house sales in South East Queensland was the Logan region, which recorded a 22 per cent increase over the period.
Brisbane has been the weakest performing capital city market over recent times with property values down -7.3% from their March 2010 peak. When the results are adjusted for inflation, the fall in values from the March 2008 peak is much more pronounced at -12.3%. Similarly in Perth, the fall from the market peak is more than double (-5.4% versus -11.3%) when the results are adjusted for inflation.From a Brisbane City Councillor:
I have been campaigning for months (along with local residents) for Council to take action on backflow valves as a means of potentially reducing some forms of flooding. As you would know, much of the January 2011 flooding in Central Ward was the result of floodwaters travelling back up Council stormwater drains. If backflow valves are installed it is more than likely that in the future that type of flooding could be avoided. While back-flow valves are not a "silver bullet", they at least hold the prospect of reducing future floods in similar circumstances.
The Council has finally agreed to conduct an inquiry, and will be holding some information sessions in September for residents of New Farm and the CBD.
While the dates haven't been set yet, if you want to attend these sessions apparently you have to register. So, I encourage anyone who has an interest to register online. You will be notified when session details are available.
Regards
David Hinchliffe
Councillor for Central Ward
Brisbane City Council
Phone: 07 3403 0254
Fax: 07 3403 0256
Email: central.ward@ecn.net.au
On the question of risk, the table below shows us that there have been five months over the last 11 years where Aussie shares have fallen in value by more than 5% (the worst being a stunning 14% loss). None of the other asset classes have had a single monthly loss of five per cent plus.
This just hammers home the point that if you get your market-timing wrong with shares, you could be underwater on your investment for many years. Think, for example, of all the poor folks who piled into Aussie shares around the market apogee in 2007 (see the peak of the red line in the chart above)."
This is a rendering of the new apartment hotel complex being constructed at 103 Mary Street, between the 111+222 hole and RiverCity apartments. 212 Margaret St is shown at the rear. So some people will have their views impacted.
After the temporary surge in demand for rental properties following the natural disasters at the start of this year, Queensland’s rental market has returned to a more even keel, according to the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ).
The REIQ residential rental survey conducted at the end of June has shown vacancy rates across most of the state returning to more normal levels following the extreme weather conditions and peak demand of earlier this year.
The Residential Tenancies Authority’s (RTA) latest median rents for the June quarter also show total residential bond lodgements easing, as well as rents stabilising, for most major regions across the State.
“In some other much-needed good news for our property market, investors are also again starting to take an interest in Queensland. The latest ABS lending finance figures show the number of investment dwellings financed in Queensland over the June quarter increased about 16 per cent with investors now accounting for 30 per cent of the market.”
In Brisbane City, vacancy rates across the local government area (LGA) have eased to 2.1 per cent however this easing in rental demand occurred in the middle to outer-ring suburbs alone.
Agents in the inner Brisbane suburbs report units are letting much more quickly, with young professionals in particular willing to pay higher rents for inner city living and modern accommodation.
Vacancies are currently taking one to two weeks to relet in the inner suburbs while other parts of Brisbane are taking a fraction longer, according to property managers at REIQ accredited agencies. On average, listings are receiving two to five applicants across the LGA.
Source: REIQ Press Release
"Here's another misconception: if you're buying apartments, high-rise is best, and the higher the better. This one, too, has been shot down by the results of research.
Brisbane property analyst Simon Pressley, director of 6-Point Property, has found, contrary to popular belief, that apartments in small complexes outperformed those in high-rise buildings on capital growth.
Meanwhile, analyst Michael Matusik argues persuasively that the common belief that apartments in the higher levels are more valuable than those below is also a myth."
Full story in The Australian
It is hard to react to 6-Point Property's research, because they do not make it freely available. It can be purchased for $1,650. One reason for the better performance of small complexes compared to high rise is that many of the high rise apartments in Brisbane are relatively new, and a number of people (particularly non-Brisbane investors) purchased off the plan at inflated prices. If these buildings were removed from the survey, I wonder if the results would change?
1, 2 and 3 bedroom apartments now selling:
This analysis excluded gross rents, which are currently around 4% to 5% per annum. It also ignores all transaction costs, which sum to around 1% to 2% per annum for the average home owner who stays in a property for seven to eight years.
Source: Chris Joye in Property Observer
“Yields are not where investors would like them to be… Some cities are doing better, for example units in Brisbane and Sydney,” he says.
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!
Rismark’s economist, Christopher Joye, added, “We think the RBA is likely to raise rates at least once or twice more to address Australia’s burgeoning inflation problem, which means dwelling values will probably soften a bit further. This should open up attractive investment opportunities.”
“Higher rates means the rental market will tighten beyond its already firm levels, with vacancy rates near all-time lows. In turn, this will drive rents and yields even higher. Over the next year we expect to see wages and disposable incomes continue to rise solidly while house prices flat-line or taper modestly,” Mr Joye said.
Unit markets have continued to outperform detached houses, with unit values recording no change in value over the June quarter compared with a 1.2 per cent fall in (more expensive) house values. A similar result applied over the twelve months to June: unit values were unchanged whereas house values were down by 2.6 per cent.
Mr Lawless said the variation in performance between the two housing types comes back to affordability.
“Across the combined capital cities, median unit prices are $67,000, or 14 per cent, lower than the median house price. In Canberra and Sydney the gap between median house and unit prices is more than 20 per cent. With more Australians seeking to live closer to the city and transport nodes, as well as seeking out more affordable housing options, the superior performance of the unit market makes sense.”
Rismark’s Mr Joye added, “As a conservative guide, dwelling prices tend to track disposable incomes through-the-cycle, or the typical owner’s average 7-8 year holding period. Historically, disposable incomes have expanded at a six per cent per annum pace. Going forward, a more realistic guide is probably around 4-5 per cent per annum. Over the next 10 years, it would not be unreasonable to expect to generate this kind of capital growth in concert with rental yields net of costs of 3-4 per cent annum. Patient folks opportunistically investing in housing are probably going to find the best prices, and valuation fundamentals, that they will have had access to in a long time. Otherwise, we favour variable-rate cash as an asset-class given our long-held forecast that the RBA will raise rates to deal with Australia’s growing inflation problem.”
“The Australian housing market’s demand- and supply-side fundamentals remain healthy. And they will improve further in the year ahead. The one fly in the ointment is interest rates. When the RBA comes to cut them, affordability in this country is likely to be the best we’ve seen in over a decade, which will help fuel a robust recovery and encourage investors to allocate scarce capital to boosting housing supply” Mr Joye said.
Values
Sales Volumes
Rents and yields
Time on market and vendor discounting
Property listings
Consumer sentiment
Housing finance
Dwelling Approvals
House prices in capital cities are forecast to stay severely unaffordable for at least a decade.
A study by the University of Canberra and AMP found that median house prices jumped 147 per cent to $417,000 between 2001 and 2011.
Most affordable#4
Brisbane middle ring
Median:
$335,000
Price/Income 2011:
5.5
Price/Income 2001:
4.8
This is what will set 'Foreshore - Hamilton' apart in this exciting new urban development. We will bring to the market 1 and 2 bedroom apartments: 1 bedroom apartments are priced between $345,000 and $525,000 - size range from 50sqm to 58.5sqm 2 bedroom apartments are priced between $495,000 and $975,000 - size range from 73sqm to 104sqm Completion date will be the later end of 2013.
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