Reiq Unit Statistics

Locality	Median Sep Qtr 09	Change over qtr"	Median 12 months to end of Sep 09	Median 12 months to end of Sep 08	Change over 1yr"
BRISBANE (LGA)	$389,500	1.9%	$380,000	$385,000	-1.3%
BRISBANE (SD)	$365,000	2.5%	$355,000	$355,000	0.0%
ALBION	N/A	N/A	$385,000	$375,000	2.7%
ASCOT	$385,000	5.0%	$377,448	$417,500	-9.6%
AUCHENFLOWER	$395,000	-12.2%	$429,500	$407,000	5.5%
BOWEN HILLS	N/A	N/A	$420,000	$422,500	-0.6%
BRACKEN RIDGE	N/A	N/A	$349,750	N/A	N/A
BRISBANE CITY ~	$447,000	27.4%	$420,000	$450,000	-6.7%
FORTITUDE VALLEY	$387,000	-11.0%	$397,500	$365,000	8.9%
HAMILTON ~	$450,000	16.9%	$410,000	$462,500	-11.4%
INDOOROOPILLY	$435,000	11.1%	$422,000	$401,750	5.0%
KANGAROO POINT	$473,000	12.0%	$418,500	$475,000	-11.9%
KELVIN GROVE ~	$408,500	-24.4%	$430,000	$399,000	7.8%
NEW FARM	$456,500	4.8%	$445,000	$487,500	-8.7%
NEWSTEAD	$531,000	0.2%	$530,000	$530,000	0.0%
PADDINGTON ~	$467,900	20.7%	$431,250	$440,000	-2.0%
SHERWOOD *	$475,937	39.0%	$425,000	$349,500	21.6%
SOUTH BRISBANE	$410,000	1.9%	$399,000	$450,000	-11.3%
SPRING HILL	$400,000	0.0%	$384,000	$385,000	-0.3%
ST LUCIA	$460,000	1.1%	$442,500	$450,000	-1.7%
TARINGA	$397,000	-0.5%	$389,000	$370,000	5.1%
TOOWONG	$425,000	-5.1%	$391,000	$415,000	-5.8%
WEST END	$514,990	1.0%	$520,000	$565,000	-8.0%

Sunland buys Devine's French Quarter

Sunland Group will make its first foray into Brisbane's apartment tower market after acquiring a parcel of land in the CBD. The developer has acquired nearly half of the French Quarter site from Devine, and will seek planning permission for a tower that will feature about 200 upmarket apartments. Devine has sold several other assets in recent months.

Article from Gold Coast News

"But while one landmark disappears, another emerges, with Sunland planning to build an 'icon' on the 2067sqm site.

Company managing director Sahba Abedian said the tower would feature 200 luxury apartments, including two and three bedrooms and sub-penthouses, aimed for the baby-boomer market.

He said a development application would be lodged with Brisbane City Council within six months."

Inner City Rents in Brisbane

"Tenants in West End and Kangaroo Point are paying up to 40 per cent more in rent than this time last year, as more people eye off luxury living in the inner-city.

As the phasing out of the first home-buyers grant buoys the rental market in Brisbane, premium apartment developments have pushed rental prices higher in the inner-city, according RP Data research analyst Cameron Kusher."

See Brisbane Times

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.

Union at Milton

"Thank you for your email enquiry regarding our proposed project at Milton.

We are currently working thru the final stages of our Development approval, which we are hoping will be confirmed early December....

In broad terms we intend to develop a modern iconic 30 storey building with multi level car parking and a wide choice of unit types i.e. 1 bedroom, 1+1 bedroom and differing design 2 bedroom apartments. There will be attractive mix of retail at ground level, a very generous entry lobby and excellent resident facilities ie pool, gymnasium, owners lounge and more."

El Dorado Indooroopilly

The El Dorodo Indooroopilly redevelopment is being advertised again. It has been in off the plan sales now of over 18 months, with most of the buyers being South African. The prices have been substantially increased.

Here is the current price list for the apartments on the first level (which is immediately above the cinema.)

101 3 bed, 2 bath $845,000
102 3 bed, 2 bath $850,000
103 2 bed, 2 bath, study $780,000
104 2 bed, 2 bath $695,000
105 2 bed, 2 bath $695,000
106 1 bed, 1 bath, study SOLD
107 1 bed, 1 bath SOLD
108 2 bed, 2 bath $690,000
109 2 bed, 2 bath $690,000
110 2 bed, 2 bath, study $775,000

Very expensive!! You can buy a large good quality new two bed two bath apartment in Indooroopilly for $500,000. So these prices are incredible! The project was originally advertised as starting in February 2009. My guess is that it will not start until late 2010 if at all.

Tennyson Reach Auction Results

Mirvac auctioned 9 apartments at Tennyson Reach last weekend. There are more than 15 purchasers of off-the-plan apartments at Tennyson Reach who failed to settle. Mirvac auctioned off nine apartments where there was no legal dispute between the Mirvac customer and Mirvac. (S0 there will be more sales of failed settlements coming.) The auctions were all three bedroom apartments with river or mangrove views. For all these apartments, they sold off-the-plan for more than $1M.

At the auction, there was only one apartment where bidding was more than $1M. This was apartment 3311 (a 6th floor end apartment, 234 sqm including balcony.)

For all other apartments, the majority of bids were in the $800K and $900K range. Most of the apartments did not reach the reserve, and were passed in. Some sold after auction, and at least 5 were still for sale when I looked recently. The apartments that did not sell at auction or immediately after were:

www.johnstondixon.com/3111k
www.johnstondixon.com/3103k
www.johnstondixon.com/4117k
www.johnstondixon.com/4212k
www.johnstondixon.com/4215k

Mirvac is being very secretive regarding the results of the auction and the ultimate sales price. In my experience, when the seller and seller's agent do not publicise auction results, this is often because the results were not good. The results were not reported to APM, and so the weekend auction result report for last weekend was even worse than reported for Brisbane.

Hamilton Harbour Update

"Strong pre-sales of residential units in Hamilton Harbour stage 1 with 89% of 257 units now sold. (This project is also a JV with Leighton Properties) ... Hamilton Harbour and King George Central forecast to commence later this calendar year subject to finance being secured."

Devine Annoucement

"SALES LEVELS ACHIEVED ON STAGE 1 OF THE HAMILTON HARBOUR MIXED-USE RESIDENTIAL, COMMERCIAL AND RETAIL DEVELOPMENT HAVE EXCEEDED OUR EARLIER EXPECTATIONS. ... TOGETHER WITH LEIGHTON PROPERTIES WE HAVE NOW COMMENCED THE PROCESS OF SECURING FUNDING FOR THE CONSTRUCTION PHASE AND, GIVEN THE HIGH LEVEL OF PRESALES ACHIEVED, ARE CONFIDENT OF ACHIEVING THIS TO ALLOW CONSTRUCTION TO COMMENCE SHORTLY."

AGM Speech

The Mill At Albion

The rumor around town is that the Mill at Albion development, by FKP, has been shelved and will not go ahead.

Brisbane Development Update

In April 2008, I listed apartments buildings that were planned for Brisbane.

Here is an update of that post. Times have changed!

1. Trilogy Hotel - 192 apartments - being sold off the plan, but project on indefinite hold
2. Trilogy Skyhome Apartments - 109 apartments - on indefinite hold
   
3. Westin Residences (Empire Square) - 104 apartments - project abandoned.
   
4. Waters Edge at West End - 220 apartments in the first 2 buildings to be released - earthworks have started
   
5. Union at Milton - 213 residential apartments and 127 hotel rooms - status unknown
   
6. French Quarter - about 70 apartments and 150 hotel rooms - project abandoned
   
7. Hamilton Harbour - about 250 apartments - stages one and two being sold off-the-plan; construction finance not yet obtained
   
8. Meriton Tower - 200 serviced apartments plus 200 residential apartments - now called Soleil, and all apartments -- no hotel or serviced apartment component.
   
9. The Mill at Albion - likely to be cancelled
   
10. Waterfront Newstead - 631 apartments - two buildings under construction
    

Current off-the-plan buildings being marketed and under construction

1. Vision (400 apartments) - cancelled
   
2. Iceworks at Paddington (47 apartments) - complete
   
3. Parklands at Sherwood (82 apartments for sale now; 211 apartments planned in total) stages one and two complete
   
4. Tennyson Reach (393 apartments) - two buildings complete, and a third building under construction
   
5. SL8 (112 apartments) - complete
   
6. Ciana Indooroopilly (132 apartments) - complete
   
7. Portside Hamilton - three buildings complete, one building in off-the-plan sales
   
8. Riverpoint West End (280 apartments) - under construction
   
9. The Macrossan (42 apartments) - under construction
   
10. SW1 (57 apartments) - complete
    
11. Fresh Toowong (92 apartments) - complete
    

Infinity in Herschel Street

"HIGH-rise king Harry Triguboff, confident that the Brisbane and Gold Coast apartment markets are heading for a price surge, is to step up his quest for new development sites and hasten the launch of two major projects.

The veteran developer is putting sites in the Brisbane CBD and central Gold Coast 'under the microscope'.

He says he will bring forward the launch of a 77-level Brisbane tower, Infinity, by several months to the middle of 2010.

"Prices in Queensland will, I am sure, follow suit and that will happen sooner rather than later. They may not reach Sydney levels but the gap will close.

"That's because apartment supply levels in Brisbane and the Gold Coast are falling and, with the credit squeeze forcing many projects to be shelved or deferred, supply will get even tighter. That means rents will go up, with rent pressures being further increased by strong migration to south-east Queensland."

He ventured into the Brisbane market in 2007 when he acquired a site on the corner of Adelaide and Boundary streets in a move he described as 'the opening of a third development front'. Construction of Soleil, a 74-level tower which will be Brisbane's tallest apartment building, is under way on the site and due for completion by late 2011.

Meriton has sold 82 one, two and three-bedroom apartments in Soleil, where prices start at $310,000 and peak at $900,000.

New project, Infinity, is a 77-level tower on a $25 million Herschel Street site and will include 209 apartments, 422 serviced apartments, and office and retail space.

Mr Triguboff says he is looking closely at a third Brisbane development site -- one on which another major developer has shelved plans for a sizeable project."

Source

Sharing Bicycles

The Brisbane City Council has proposed a bicycle sharing system, called CityCycle based on the one in Paris.
Here is a good story about the reality of the Paris system.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/31/world/europe/31bikes.html

Portside Promenade

Multiplex still has a number of apartments to sell off-the-plan at Portside Promenade, located near Hamilton. Construction has not yet started on this building, which is the third apartment building in the development. See prior posts.

The development is behind other buildings, and the fourth building in the development will block some of the river views from Promenade. The better views are to the west, but the apartments do not have central air conditioning - -there is a split system aircon, with a compressor on the balcony, for the living room only. Not a good call Multiplex!

Example pricing:

• level 4, 2 bed, 2 bath, river side, 92sqm internal, 112 sqm total - $695,000
• level 5, 2 bed, 2 bath, northern view, 90 sqm internal, 114 sqm total - $650,000
• level 8, 2 bed, 2 bath, river side, 91sqm internal, 120 sqm total - $819,000
• level 9, 2 bed, 2 bath, river side, 93 sqm internal, 111 sqm total - $870,000
• level 10, 2 bed, 2 bath, northern side, 93sqm internal, 112 sqm total - $850,000
• level 10, 2 bed, 2 bath, northern side, 93sqm internal, 115 sqm total - $710,000
• level 15, 1 bed, 1 bath, northern side, 55 sqm internal, 72sqm total - $515,000
• level 15, 3 bed, 2 bath, river side and river views, 118 sqm internal, 150sqm total - $1,275,000
  

Mosaic in the Valley

Mosaic The Valley is now being sold off-the-plan, with a large advertising campaign. It is located on Ann Street (the major road from the airport to the city), at Church Street. If there are enough off-the-plan sales, so that construction can start, the developer hopes to complete in mid-2012.

There are 16 apartments per floor, mostly small 1 bed apartments. The building is about 15 stories high. There are over 200 apartments. The building does not have a pool. Most apartments do not have a balcony.

The apartments are small. For example, there is a studio apartment which is 50sqm. The bedroom is located internally, with sliding doors that can open. A similar sign is 54sqm. The 54sqm studio apartment, with a car park, on a mid-level is about $500,000 (or $435,000 without a car).

The largest style apartment is a 2 bed, 2 bath, for example, 79sqm, plus a 7 sqm balcony. The two bedroom apartments are located at each of the four corners of the floorplate -- so two are on Ann Street, and the other two face West. Not ideal in either case.

The two bedroom apartments range from $505,000 to $700,000.

The developer is Leighton Properties.

Tennyson Reach Lawsuit Judgment

As previously noted, Mirvac is suing a number of its off-the-plan customers for failure to settle at the over-priced Tennyson Reach development. Mirvac was recently successful in court on one issue. A purchaser claimed that the lot size of the apartment was 1sqm less than shown on the plan. This is what the court said on this issue:

"The contract provided that the seller could make changes to the size of a lot of up to five per cent (more or less) than that shown in the Disclosure Statement. Accordingly, the description of the floor area on the plan insofar as it operated to clearly identify the lot should be taken to be up to five per cent different (more or less) from 177 m2, namely that it would have an area of between 168.15 m2 and 185.85 m2. On this basis the reduction in the size of the balcony by 1 m2 as depicted on later plans including plans that became part of the second further statement did not mean that the Disclosure Statement contained information concerning the floor area of the proposed lot that became inaccurate.

In short, insofar as the description of the floor area served to clearly identify the lot, the floor area was to be between 168.15 m2 and 185.85 m2 and this information did not become inaccurate after the Disclosure Statement was given. On this basis, the reduction in the size of the balcony by 1 m2 did not give rise to an inaccuracy that the plaintiff was required to address in a rectification statement under s 22."

The leason to learn here is that most off-the-plan contracts have a clause that says that apartment sizes can vary. In this case, the purchaser could have ended up with 10sqm less than what they believed they were getting, and would still be required to settle.

See http://archive.sclqld.org.au/qjudgment/2009/QSC09-269.pdf

REIQ June 2009 Brisbane Apartment Gross Yield Report

Locality	Weighted average median¹	Median Rent /Wk	Annualised Median Rent²	Gross Rental Yield
Brisbane City/Spring Hill	$360,676	$540	$28,080	7.8%
Buranda/Dutton Park/Gabba	$337,000	$380	$19,760	5.9%
East Bris/Kangaroo Point	$401,306	$435	$22,620	5.6%
Highgate Hill/Sth Bris/WEnd	$440,704	$460	$23,920	5.4%
Bowen Hills/Valley/Newstead	$472,500	$450	$23,400	5.0%
St Lucia	$455,000	$415	$21,580	4.7%
Indooroopilly/Taringa	$395,150	$360	$18,720	4.7%
Paddington	$387,500	$350	$18,200	4.7%
New Farm	$435,750	$390	$20,280	4.7%
Ascot/Hamilton	$372,869	$325	$16,900	4.5%
Corinda/Sherwood	$361,500	$300	$15,600	4.3%
Auchenflower/Toowong	$448,455	$350	$18,200	4.1%
Chermside	$416,500	$320	$16,640	4.0%
Kelvin Grove/Red Hill	$493,103	$340	$17,680	3.6%

Matisse Tower

Recently, a number of purchasers of real estate in an off-the-plan strata title office development in Brisbane, the Matisse Tower, got out of their contracts.

See APM Property 3 Pty Ltd v Blondeau & Ors [2009] QSC 326 (8 October 2009)

It has been reported that Alec Spencer, who is or was associated with Matisse Tower, is in financial trouble.

He is quoted in The Australian as being a director of the developer of Matisse
Brisbane's Matisse Tower office sales at $40m | The Australian

His consultancy company has also been mentioned in NSW Parliament.

Auction Results and Monday Morning

On Monday morning, the newspapers often have an article about the health of the property market, based on the weekend's auction results report by APM. This is often misleading, for the following reasons:

• The APM results that are the basis for the report are often incomplete, as a number of auction results have not yet been reported.
• Brisbane has far fewer auction sales than Melbourne and Sydney - so the report does not take into account sales other than by auction which is the bulk of the sales in Brisbane
• The APM results focus on Saturday auctions, and do not capture auctions during the week. Ray White, for example, often has Friday morning auctions.
• The report, for the most part, relies on agents reporting to APM. If the agent has a bad result, there is less incentive to report.

Read Chris Joye here on this topic. This article makes a similar comment.

Tennyson Reach Liquidation Sale!

As previously reported on this blog, a number of off-the-plan purchasers at Mirvac's Tennyson Reach failed to settle, and are being sued by Mirvac. Mirvac is now selling these apartments by auction.

"A very frenetic listing week has culminated with the official listing of nine riverfront apartments (under instructions from Mirvac Queensland where the buyers have not settled). These apartments are to be auctioned in a line on Saturday the 14th November at 12 noon. Our clear instructions are that these quality riverfront apartments WILL BE SOLD.

Elsewhere, buyer activity in the middle and upper ends of the market continues to increase as we move into one of the busiest sales times of the year.

Warm Regards,
Dianne Bauer
Associate
JOHNSTON DIXON

Riparian

There are a number of apartments for sale in Riparian (71 Eagle Street) at present.

• Apt 4404 - 3 bedrooms - 314sqm - receiver's auction (current owner is Nick Seirlis, a real estate agent who paid $2.9M in September 2005)
• Apt 4504 - 2 bedrooms (last sale - $1.5M in 2006)
• Apt 4702 - 2 bedrooms (last sale - $1.6M in 2006)
• Apt 4703 - 3 bedrooms - 269sqm - receiver's auction (Nick Seirlis paid $3.2M in 2007)
• Apts 4602 & 4603 - have been joined together - 530 sqm (paid $5M in 2007)
• Apt 4803 - 3 bedrooms - 317sqm (sold for $1.9M in 2004)
• Apt 4801 - 3 bedrooms - 376sqm (sold for $1.6M off the plan in 2002)
• Apt 4802 - 3 bedrooms - Noel Robinson's apartment - he was the only person who purchased an empty shell. The AFR says he purchased the shell, and did the fitout, and is now looking for $3M. This has been on the market for some time. Another auction is planned for late October.

Last sale, Apt 4502, 2 bedrooms, sold for $2,250,000 in July 2009.

Apt 4903, a 3 bedroom, sold in early 2009 for $3M.

Apt 4101 is reported as sold for $1.4M in mid 2009.

In my opinion, the developer did a poor job on the fitout, so some of the apartments have a bad feeling.

New Apartment Developments in Brisbane

There are very few new apartment developments in inner city Brisbane under construction and nearing completion. This is good news for owners of existing apartments, as the number of apartments available for sale will not increase dramatically in the next few years. This is my list:

• Evolution - completed last year, overpriced, developer trying to sell remaining apartments
• Vision - developer in bankruptcy situation - unclear if this will proceed, and if so, in what form
• Trilogy - on hold
• Meriton's Soliel - under construction
• Meriton's Herschel Street highrise - advertised by Meriton as coming soon
• Devine's Hamilton Harbour - not in inner city - construction to commence January 2010, maybe Devine's last apartment project in Brisbane
• Rive at Breakfast Creek - construction commencing
• Waters Edge at West End - first stage: ground works commencing
• Riverpoint at West End - first stage under construction
  
• Code at Bowen Hills
• Multiplex's Promenade at the Hamilton shipping terminal
• Mirvac's Waterfront at Newstead
• Macrossan Towers, under construction, one apartment per floor
• Yungaba at Kangaroo Point, about to start pre-sales in the next month
• Mosaic, in the Valley, in presales

Misleading Advertisement for Riverpoint Apartment

A reader forwarded me an interesting email chain with an agent, about this advertisement for resale of an off-the-plan apartment in Riverpoint in West End.

The apartment a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment, which has an internal size of 66sqm. This is very small for a 2 bedroom apartment. The second bedroom is not large enough for a queen bed and has no windows and has a sliding door because the room is too small to have a normal swinging door. The kitchen comprises benches along the wall.

This is the advertisement. Some text: "On Offer in Stage 1 of The Riverpoint Development is An Affordable Lifestyle Apartment On The First Floor, 94m2 of total Area, with 2 Large Bedrooms, 1 Bathroom & Upgraded Finishes." Two large bedrooms, who is this agent kidding?

But the real issue is the drawing included, as shown above.

The floorplan shows a tiny bathroom with a shower only. However, the drawing included in the advertisement shows a large bathroom with a bath and a shower.

When this was brought to the attention of the agent, Michael Mangelakis, of Street Property Sales, he replied in an email

"The artist impression of the bathroom has been used in an indicative manner to present the type of finish being supplied at completion." and then in a follow up email, Mr Mangelakis says: "You obviously have not looked at the photo’s properly. They are all marked with “indicative only”. I think you need to stop wasting my time. Goodbye"

The advertisement is clearly misleading -- showing a drawing of a bathroom from another apartment, and saying it is indicative of the finishes, where it is not indicative of the size, layout or features. The text of the advertisement does not make this clear at all. It is clearly misleading and deceptive. I would not want to buy or sell though this agent!

Gold Coast Going Backwards

Prices on the Gold Coast for apartments are going backwards. Some examples:

Artique building, a Rapits building in Surfers Paradise, completed about 2 years ago.

• Apt 1202, 12th floor, 2 bedrooms, sold off the plan for $445,000 listed at $580,000, sold in June 2009 for $300,000.
• Apt 607, 1 bed plus study, sold off the plan for $425,000, listed at $550,000 but sold in 2009 for $295,000.
• Eight 2 bedroom apartments were sold in one line (403, 404, 504, 1004, 1104, 1203, 1205, 1304), for an average price of less than $400,000 each, this time last year.
• Apt 2604, large two bedroom with ocean views, sold off the plan for $900,000, recently listed at $1M, then $795,000 but sold for $695,000 in September 2009 at a loss of more than $225,000.
• A two bedroom on level 3 is currently listed for resale at a price less than the buyer's purchase price.
• The penthouse went to auction last year but did not sell.
  

So, everyone who bought in Artique and resold has lost money, more than $100,000 each. Buying off the plan is risky. Don't believe real estate agents and marketers who saying buying off the plan gives you a better price. Don't believe people who say that you can't go backwards with real estate.

Here is a great advertisement from Ray White, bragging about a sale well below listing price.

"Another Property SOLD by the Ray White Surfers Paradise Group!
SURFERS PARADISE
Features: Balcony
HEAVILY REDUCED $550,000 Now just $419,000"

This property was sold for $380,000 at the end of September. (It is an apartment in Chevron Towers.)

Developer's Profit Margins and Marketing Costs

It is interesting to review the information Devine has published regarding its French Quarter development, that it is in the process of selling. It gives a good idea as to developer profit margins and costs of new apartment developments, such as French Quarter. (The information was not password protected at first, now it is, so you will have to trust me on this.)

For the "Carrington" Building (268 apartments, with 302 car parks).

Revenue for residential apartments - $11,400 per sqm, totalling $411M
Revenue from selling management rights - $2.45M

Total Development costs, including land value at $49M and construction costs at $177M = $310M

Profit - $85M

Interestingly, marketing & commission costs are $22M.
("Marketing Costs allowance 2.0% of Gross Sales Revenue. Commissions of 3.0% of Gross Sales Revenue with 50% paid on unconditional contracts & 10% deposit held.")

So, for a 2 bed, 2 bath apartment (110sqm in size), the average price would have been $1.2M. Of this, about $350,000 is profit, and $60,000 approx is marketing costs and commission for the sales agent.

Brisbane Report

"The Redcliffe peninsula was a stellar performer through the 2003 boom. The pointy end of Brisbane’s northern beaches appeared to be an undiscovered wealth of natural riches that went from obscurity to belle of the ball. Council was gung-ho in getting plenty of capital invested in the area and, on the whole, it has awoken this sleepy centre. The downside is the current and continuing oversupply of new units in the area, particularly in the high rise sector. Local government took on a flexible approach to development submissions where many projects were assessed on an individual basis with such items as public space contributions affecting the allowable density of a site. Much of these large scale attached unit developments also take advantage of water views and a café lifestyle that drives demand in so many other centres. The area saw a rush of investors from all around the country eager to take advantage of this now revealed gem. Unfortunately, oversupply is knocking the wind out of the areas sails (and its sales). Capital growth for new unit buyers has been a touch subdued and it looks to continue in this disappointing vein for a little while yet.

A surprise disappointment has been the multiple tenancy properties in greater Brissy. Multi room student complexes, genuine purpose-built flats buildings and boarding houses haven’t sparked as expected over the past year. The income sure looks good but its fair to say that some steam has escaped the rental market and future income potential is a touch more tarnished than it was 12 months ago. These properties probably have some good potential in the long term as long as you stick with the fundamentals - good location and a ready tenant base.

Infrastructure upgrades are another area that has lowered buyer expectations in locations that deserve a little more respect. Kedron is a good case in point. Almost overnight the Northern Busway turned sections of the suburb into a dust laden construction site – not the thing you necessarily want to wake to each day. The works have caused quite a bit of inconvenience and put off a few purchasers. The upside for those willing to take the plunge and grin and bear it is that, if finished right, these areas will benefit from improved transport access and useable community infrastructure."

HTW October Report

Sunshine Coast Report

"The sectors where we have seen biggest falls have been based generally around discretionary/lifestyle properties. Certainly the upper price level homes and units fall into these categories. Instead of people selling their principal place of residence, they are selling the holiday house and subsequently we have seen a significant softening in the values. In some cases, these values have fallen well below replacement cost.

There is an interesting change in the gap between lower priced property and upper priced properties. For example, a property that was worth approximately $350,000 in say 2005, is now worth in the vicinity of $400,000. Whereas a property that was previously worth $1,300,000 in the same period is now worth $1,000,000. This gap has shrunk significantly, which would lead us to believe that something has to give. Whether that is the lower priced properties are to fall in values, or the upper price properties are to increase in values, is anyone’s guess."

Gold Coast Report

HTW October report says:

"Over the last 9 months, it would be of no surprise that the new apartment market has been one of the hardest hit. Scanning the Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach skyline, it would be fair to say that there is currently limited activity on the building front, with a lack of crane activity. Developers are still holding apartment stock from residential developments (predominantly medium and high rise projects) completed in 2008, purely because the resale market (of near new apartments) is too competitive on price.

A large proportion of new apartment product on the Gold Coast is sold to interstate and to a lessor extent, overseas investors at price levels which are considered to be in excess of local market values. The premium paid for new apartments is often not sustainable on resale, especially within a short holding term.

The sustained softening in values of new apartment product is not limited to Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach, but is also apparent in the northern and southern parts of the Gold Coast. The new and near new apartment market in Coolangatta has been underperforming for some 18 months now. The completion of a number of medium and high rise projects towards the end of 2007 and early 2008, in conjunction with the increase in supply of near new apartments coming back to the market at that time, has had a signficant negative effect on market values. Market conditions are in such a state at the moment, that a new apartment project nearing completion is likely to see a signficant settlement risk (ie. purchasers may forego their deposits and not settle because of the significant drop in market values). In this development, of the 43 contracts signed “off the plan”, 41 were signed in 2007, in much better market conditions.

From Southport to Hollywell, the new medium and high rise apartment market is also soft with similar prevailing factors as to those experienced in the central and southern parts of the Gold Coast. Stock levels are high and sales rates are low. The resale apartment market is considered an impediment to these stocks levels reducing. Developers however are utilising innovative marketing techniques, in conjunction with professional marketeers which entice potential buyers to purchase. Rental guarantees, cash backs, and fitout incentives are just some of these. These incentives are generally built into the price."

Hope Island, which is considered an established good to prestige quality residential house location, is really yet to prove itself for medium to high density apartment living. Over the past 5 years there have been a number of large apartment projects built in this area, achieving only modest sales performance with most projects retaining considerable developer stock, some in the hands of receivers. There is currently approximately 300 apartments (in new projects) for sale in the Hope Island locality."

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.

Housing Prices Rebound

"HOUSING prices around the country rose nearly 2 per cent in August, the biggest monthly increase since researcher RP Data-Rismark began its tracking in 2005.

The August increase takes housing value growth to 7.9 per cent for the first eight months of the year, with Melbourne turning in the best performance -- an 11.6 per cent jump. ...

In a note yesterday, Mr Walters said an expected 25 basis-point interest rate rise next week, tighter lending standards, the Commonwealth Bank's move this week to lift its fixed mortgage rate, and the winding down of the first-home owner grant would all affect new development.

David Devine, managing director of Queensland-based residential developer Devine, said it was nearly impossible to secure funding from the banks for apartment and unit projects, irrespective of pre-sales.

Mr Devine said figures from researcher BIS Shrapnel showed there was demand for 175,000 new homes nationally each year."

The Australian

"Unit values marginally outperformed house values in August, with units rising 2.1 per cent while houses gained 1.8 per cent." Source

Overcrowding and Illegal Use of Apartments as Short Term Accomodation

A reader, Ruth Bonnett, sent me this:

"I am thankful that our Local Councillor, David Hinchliffe has brought this overcrowding problem to the surface.

Sunday Mail Article

Have any of you noticed overcrowding in your buildings? Are you concerned about the increase in costs to all owners?

Surely there is something Local Council “Can Do”? Can our State Government help?"

The Bottom Has Passed?

"Australia's top institutional and private investors believe the nation is well and truly past the bottom of the property cycle and now heading towards upswing, according to new survey findings released by Colliers International.

The second Colliers International Investor Sentiment Survey, conducted late last month, has shown investors around the country believe that if the property cycle were a clock, with the top of the market at 12 o'clock and the bottom at 6 o'clock, Australia moved upwards to 7 o'clock in Q3-09, after the majority of investors believed the same clock sat at 5 o'clock when they were first surveyed in May for Q2-09. ...

The majority of investors, at 52 per cent, believe Australia is not only past the bottom of the property cycle, but 64% also believe the upswing will occur earlier than indicated in the first survey - by Q2/Q3 2010 or even earlier, instead of in Q4 2010. ...

When asked how they would describe their property investment strategy over the next 12 months, the majority of investors, almost half at 49 per cent, identified they were heading into growth mode, with 43 per cent in defend mode or holding steady. Only 8 per cent were expecting to contract holdings.

Investors also signalled the green light to purchase property is now definitely on. 69 per cent now expect to buy property in Australia over the next 12 months, up from 63 per cent in May. Investors also expect it will become easier to buy property with 47 per cent believing access to debt capital will become easier in the next 12 months, versus just 20 per cent in the May survey.

Most investors, at 45 per cent, are looking to buy office property, with the top 5 buy markets identified as Sydney Office (20 per cent), Melbourne Office (15 per cent), Sydney Residential (7 per cent), Melbourne Residential (6 per cent) and Sydney Industrial (6 per cent). ...

Residential was again the standout property sector with the majority of investors believing values had only declined by 1 to 10 per cent since the peak of the market, while 16 per cent believed residential values hadn't changed at all, or even witnessed some growth. The majority of investors believe there will be no further softening to residential values and 8 per cent believe there will now be growth."

http://www.colliers.com.au/site/page.cfm?c=1305

Gabba Central

A reader sent me this comment, that I post without editing:

GABBA CENTRAL APARTMENTS IN WOOLLOONGABBA BRISBANE

Don't buy these apartments. In August 2008 there were about 50 unsold apartments, out of 154 apartments in Stage 2 (i.e. Towers 3 & 4). Developer went 'broke' because they wanted to wash all the problems here off their hands. Now the developer's company is still under receivership, and there are still about 30 apartments unsold.

I am an owner (first hand) and have been living here for more than a year. Body Corporate has spent heaps of money fixing building defect (including external walls cracking, plumbing failure resulting in apartments flooded - thank god not mine).

Today the glass of a glass door between my bedroom and the balcony shattered by itself suddenly and without any prior warning! Had to get a glazier in to do urgent replacement and I don't know whether the cost would be covered by Body Corporate's building insurance."

No French Quarter for Brisbane

Devine is not proceeding with its French Quarter hotel and apartment project in Alice Street. The site was listed for sale in yesterday's AFR.

As mentioned in a prior post, Devine is selling the French Quarter site.

Here are the sale details: http://www.frenchquarterbrisbane.com.au/

"The French Quarter vision has been shaped by Devine Limited after extensive research, planning and design. The French Quarter includes an agreement with IHG for an InterContinental* Hotel which will complement the development. The marketing and sales success of the apartments at French Quarter is predicated on five key success drivers:

• Brisbane’s best CBD residential address.
• A “cutting edge” architectural design.
• A broad mix of 4 and 5 star apartment types.
• The Parisian style retail environment presenting to Albert Street.
• The presence of the world renowned InterContinental Hotel.

Alice Street is Brisbane’s equivalent of Macquarie Street in Sydney and Clarendon Street in Melbourne. Alice Street has long been recognised as Brisbane’s best apartment address with the presence of The Parliament of Queensland, The Queensland Club, Quay West and The Grosvenor. Buildings on Alice Street overlook the city’s Botanical Gardens and the Brisbane River with high level views as far as the Border Ranges, Moreton Bay and the Glasshouse Mountains.

Albert Street is the principal pedestrian link between the gardens and the Queen Street Mall. This active pedestrian friendly street is well patronised for its many cafés and retail shops."

See also The Australian

Also, Story in the Courier Mail:

Twin tower plans for Brisbane axed by Devine
Michelle Hele | September 17, 2009 12:00am | CM

ANOTHER residential tower project has fallen over in the Brisbane CBD, with Devine pulling out of its $1 billion French Quarter development. An international competition was held to pick its designer and it was to house the most expensive apartments in Brisbane – up to $15 million.

Devine spent years buying up individual apartments in buildings which are currently on the land so it could control the site on the corner of Albert, Alice and Margaret streets. Stage one was to feature a tower with a luxury six-star hotel, with apartments on top, retail and commercial space on the lower levels and Parisian-style cafes and walkways.

But with Devine appointing agents to sell the property it seems unlikely it will ever be delivered.

Meanwhile, Austcorp's Vision Tower is still in limbo with no work carried out for months and some of the group's companies in the hands of voluntary administrators.

Work is also delayed on Trilogy Tower, an $800 million project on the site of the former Red Cross Blood Bank, and Metacap scrapped plans for its $500 million Empire Square tower on Elizabeth St.

Geoff McIntyre of Jones Lang LaSalle and Rick Bird of Ray White Transact have been appointed to sell the French Quarter site and will market the property internationally. Mr McIntyre said it was a one-in-a-million site. Mr Bird spent months negotiating the individual purchase of units in the apartment blocks. The agents said the plan was to sell the property to another party which would go ahead with the project.

Devine managing director David Devine said he was disappointed but after a review of operations the company realised house and land packages were providing a better short-term return at lower risk. The group was also reviewing its land holdings in Queensland and would sell some soon.

Mr Devine said the focus now would be on buying more land in Victoria so the group could turn it into profits quickly.

"You can't do everything that you want to do," he said. "It is disappointing but the fact is that our business is exceptionally good on the house and land front where demand is high and supply is low. We have too much land in some areas in Queensland and we are looking at selling that."

Mr Devine said good sites such as the French Quarter site would sell in any market. Offers to purchase French Quarter close on November 12. Mr McIntyre said in a good market the site could make up to $90 million. Mr Bird said with all the work that had gone into planning, a developer would have a significant head start on the project.

Auction Comment - Ray White CBD

"... last night at our Gala Auction event at the Greek Club, 22 properties went under the hammer for sale and again a large crowd was in attendance and there was great energy in the room. Over 60 buyers registered to bid and there was good bidding throughout the night but it was hard work. The first home buyer market has grown smaller as many have now already bought and the first home buyers grant has now been reduced.

Still we had some great results with 9 properties selling under the hammer at auction and a further 3 sold straight after the auctions."

Colliers Sentiment Survey Results

See Podcast for the results of Collier's national property sentiment survey.

For Landlords, January is the best time to find a tenant

Double Click on the above chart, from Pro Rentals