Radius Apartments

The developers of Radius Apartments at Woolloongabba recently announced that they have sold the management rights to Oaks Hotels and Resorts.  In my opinion, this is a good reason of itself to avoid Radius.  Two bedrooms including furniture from $465,000.  Settlement expected in about 18 months.  The Radius website has floor plans, but does not give the size of any of the apartments, so I am guessing that they are tiny.

Infinity Tower Grows

The Courier-Mail has learnt Meriton has since last March been seeking permission from the Federal Department of Infrastructure and Transport to operate a crane at a height of 311m for two weeks during the ongoing construction of the 81-storey, 262m Infinity tower in Herschel St.

In spite of the 10-month wait, Meriton said the project remained on track for a November completion and the developer remained "confident the application will be approved in the near future".

Courier Mail

Investing in Brisbane Apartment

The 2nd edition of "Investing in Brisbane Apartments" is now available in the iTunes iBook store, and can be downloaded for iPads, iPods and iPhones.  Look here.

Rising Market?

Matusik says that the Brisbane property market is on the upswing.  See presentation and blog post.

"The astute investor – and contrary to what the mass media says – knows that the property market cycles and that it turned the corner around the middle of last year.  The table below outlines the past eleven residential cycles in Australia.  Things might be slow, but they are looking up."

RP Data end of 2012 review

Here are some slides from RP Data's recent end of year review.  Click on slides to mark larger.

Renting in Brisbane

Introduction

At this time of year, finding a good apartment or home unit to rent in Brisbane is not easy.  In January and February, the demand for apartment rentals is high and many tenants are looking for a place to live.

In the best buildings, the existing tenants do not often leave, and when they do move out, the apartment is often 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, and the better apartments may be provided to corporate tenants.  For the mid-quality buildings, many apartments are furnished and rented on a short term basis, sometimes even overnight.  Thus, there may be fewer than expected apartments available for rent. 

The largest number of listings are located on RealEstate.com.au, but a number of onsite managers do not use this website.  A newer website that has a number of rental listings is the REIQ website.  CityApartmentSales is sometimes used by onsite managers to list apartments for rent.  Also, try Central Apartments for rentals in Pradella buildings.  Domain.com.au is used by real estate agents and private owners, and so may have properties listed that are not listed elsewhere.

At one time, a good specialist website for apartments was 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.

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

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

This website has a list of most city apartment buildings, with useful information and links about them. Also, try this customised search engine.  And see www.apartmentreviews.com.au.

You can also look at prior posts on this blog regarding rentals.

Downtown Brisbane:

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 and Skyline (second tier).  Recently opened just behind these buildings is Meriton's Soleil (in my opinion, lower quality).

Admiralty One is good value, and has some of the largest two bedroom apartments in Brisbane, and is a smaller building.  It is direct river front - 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 than the two Admiralty buildings listed above, and it is more expensive. http://www.admiraltyquays.com/

Nearby on the river in the city is River Place, and is likely to have availability as this is a large complex.  Be careful of Storey Bridge noise. Great views.  Great pool.

Soleil has only just opened.  It is currently the tallest building in Brisbane.  A large building with over 400 apartments, but a large nunber have not been sold.  It has short term rentals.  This link lists Soleil apartments for rent.

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.  About half the apartments in this building are hotel managed, so it is easy to get short term accommodation in Quay West, but difficult to find an apartment for a long term lease.  All apartments are privately owned.  Try to rent above level 7 for the better views.

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 downtown 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/

M on Mary has recently been taken over by new management, so it will be interesting to see what happens in this building.  It was not high on my list previously, but that may change with the new management.

Parklands at Roma Street also has some good apartments.

SouthBank

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

Also, Saville (Mantra) at SouthBank is one of the nicest buildings if you get a river facing apartment.  The apartments are level 8 and above.  Below level 8 is a hotel.  The best thing to do here is call to find out availability.  Telephone 07 3305 2559

West End
There is likely to be some availability in some of the riverside West End apartments.  These include Waters Edge, Flow, Koko and Left Bank.

Some of the better apartments not on the river road include SL8 and Tempo.

In my view, all of the above West End apartments are too isolated.

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.

In Indooroopilly, there has been very little recent construction.  Two of the newer, quality buildings 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.  It has good onsite managers, but apartments rarely become available here.

Ciana is a larger new complex, in a central location, with many large apartments. There is a pool and gym, plus a bowls club and restaurant! 

One of the newest complex in the Toowong / Taringa area is Fresh.  This complex has two pools, a gym and great gardens, and a large number of apartments are owned by super funds and thus are rentals.  Try here.

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).  This complex flooded in January 2010.  

St Lucia is harder to find quality -- there are few buildings with onsite managers. So you have to try local real estate agents.  The best buildings are riverfront, and are expensive.

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.

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.  It was badly flooded.  You can rent a high quality apartment at a reasonable price here, if you don't mind the location.

Median Price Reports Not Always What They Seem

Often, newspapers report on the growth or decline in property values, or identify certain areas as hotspots, or have articles such as "What is your home worth?"  This articles are often based on changes in median price over a period of time.  However, care must be taken when looking a median price reports.  First, the data set may be small.  For example, it is not uncommon for the median price for a suburb to be calculated on less than 20 sales.  Second, there may be a change in the mix of what is sold.   For example, if in one year, many 1 bedroom apartments are sold, and in the next year, many 2 bedroom apartments are sold, then the median price will show growth, when in fact, the values of 2 bedroom apartments may have declined.  Another example is if a large new apartment building completes.  This happened a few years ago in West End -- the newspapers reported dramatic price growth in West End; the change in median price was in fact due to the completion of more than 150 apartments in 2 developments, not due to property values increasing.

It is easy to identify "hotspots" on this basis -- just look to where a number of new apartments buildings or subdivisions are nearing completion.  But this is really misleading.  

The Courier Mail, that often publishes such reports, identifies the risk of looking a median prices:

"A change in median price, more often than not, reflects what has been sold during the two time periods rather than actual price growth.  The only real way to test price growth is to look at resales - the same dwelling resold over time."  Courier Mail Real Estate Section, page 2, 5 January 2013, by Matusik.

Realty Times makes the same point in this article.

As Matusik states "You can't always believe what you read."  [I guess he is referring to the Courier Mail here?]

Living In Strata

Living In Strata is said to be a resource for people living in strata titled buildings.
See www.livinginstrata.com.au

New Edition of Kindle Book

A new edition of the popular Kindle Book Investing in Brisbane Apartments - A Guide for Successful Investing (2nd Edition) has just been published.  This second edition has been updated and revised.  This book is helpful if you are considering buying an apartment in Brisbane as an investment or to live in.  If you don't have a Kindle, then get a free Kindle App or buy a Kindle: Kindle, 6" E Ink Display, Wi-Fi - for international shipment.  Also available in iTune store.

Charlotte Towers Sales

Let’s have a look at the four most recent sales in Charlotte Towers (as set out in government records) located at 128 Charlotte Street in Brisbane:

• Apt 4403 - a very good two bedroom apartment, purchased August 2005 from the developer for $585,000, resold October 2012 for $560,000
• Apt 3010 - purchased October 2004 from the developer for $380,000, resold October 2012 for $365,000 to well known Brisbane property investor Sarina Russo
• Apt 3705 - purchased September 2004 from the developer for $374,000, resold October 2012 for $350,000
• Apt 3007 - purchased from the developer in May 2006 for $533,000, resold February 2009 for $485,000, resold again in September 2012 for $497,000

As can be seen from the above, every purchaser from Devine who purchased off the plan has lost money.  The losses are greater than those shown above once stamp duty and agent's selling fees are taken into account.

Charlotte Towers was developed by Devine, at that time run by David Devine and Ken Woodley, who now run the Metro Property Group.

RP Data-Rismark December Hedonic Daily Home Value Index Results

Capital city home values fall over consecutive years, down -3.8% in 2011 and -0.4% in 2012.  With capital city dwelling values falling by -0.3% over the month of December, home values recorded an aggregate decline of -0.4% over the 2012 calendar year.
Highlights over the quarter:

• Best performing capital city: Darwin +2.5 per cent
• Weakest performing capital city: Hobart, -3.7 per cent
• Highest rental yields: Darwin houses with gross rental yield of 6.1 per cent and Darwin Units at 5.9 per cent
• Lowest rental yields: Melbourne houses with gross rental yields of 3.6 per cent and Melbourne units at 4.4 per cent
• Most expensive city: Sydney with a median dwelling price of $580,246
• Most affordable city: Hobart with a median dwelling price of $317,500

According to RP Data Senior Research Analyst, Cameron Kusher, we have now seen two successive years of annual value declines, however the annual rate of declines has improved substantially compared to last year.

“Home values in Brisbane, Perth and Hobart remain below where they were five years ago, whereas the other mainland cities have all recorded significantly lower rates of growth in home values over the past five years than they did over the preceding five year period."

Brisbane apartment prices (to 31 December 2012):
December 2012 - down 2.8%
Quarter - down 0.9%
Year to Date - down 3.5%
Year on Year - down 3.5%
Median price based on settled sales of Brisbane apartments over the quarter - $363,000.

Arena South Brisbane

A new development is being proposed for Edmondstone Street in South Brisbane, called Arena.  It has a mix of 1, 2 and 3 bedroom apartments, and seems to be more up-market than a number of the other apartment complexes planned for South Brisbane.  The development appears to consist of 2 towers, each 12 floors high.

South Point at South Bank

Anthony Johns Group appears to be pushing ahead with its Grey Street development at South Bank.  At one point, it seemed that Suncorp would move their headquarters there, but that fell through.  There has also been a SouthPoint website, but that now diverts to a new teaser website:  www.lastpieceofsouthbank.com

Aspect on Benson

A new apartment development, Aspect on Benson, in Toowong, is currently in pre-sales, selling off the plan.  It is close to Toowong Village.  But it is on a very busy road.

73 spacious, high quality units over 8 levels

1 bed, 1 bath, 1 car – $439,000 (Only 1 in complex)

2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car – $535,000 to $595,000 (including furniture package)

Low body corporate fees (at least, initially).

Google Trends Shows Downward Trend

It is interesting to look at Google Trends -- how many searches are conducted on Google for various topics.  Google Trends shows that there is a big jump in January each year for people searching terms such as "Brisbane rent" and "Brisbane real estate".  There was also a temporary spike in July and August this year.  Over the past five years, the trend has been downwards.  See this data set for example.

Brisbane Rents

Here is the median Brisbane rent for 2 bedroom apartments, as sourced from the RTA based upon information provided to the RTA when rental bonds are lodged or updated.  This does not distinguish between furnished and unfurnished apartments, and does not include lease renewals where the bond amount does not change.  This is for the September 2012 quarter.

Post Code 4000 (Brisbane City): $585 per week
Post Code 4005 (New Farm): $530 per week
Post Code 4007 (Hamilton): $420 per week
Post Code 4101 (South Bank/ South Brisbane): $510 per week
Post Code 4066 (Toowong): $395 per week
Post Code 4067 (St Lucia): $420 per week
Post Code 4068 (Indooroopilly/Taringa): $385 per week

There is a lot of good rental information on the RTA website at: Median Rents Quick Finder

Do not use WhatRentMyHome.  This "service" is operated by a real estate agency, and the information it provides is inaccurate and out-of-date, and is misleading.

Money and Markets

  Shop Amazon Money

Rental Demand in Brisbane

From an REIQ press release:

As we head into the peak demand period for rental properties it is important for tenants to understand the attributes of successful rental applications, according to the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ).  Starting in January, demand for rental properties increases across the State.  Demand historically peaks during February and March when, based upon historical Residential Tenancies Authority data, leases for about 40,000 rental properties will be negotiated in just two months.

According to rental listings by REIQ accredited agencies on reiq.com, there are currently about 13,000 properties available for rent across Queensland.

REIQ CEO Anton Kardash said as Queensland’s rental market had been in a state of undersupply for most of 2012, it was more important than ever for prospective tenants to understand the rental process.
“Property managers generally use two equally important criteria when assessing prospective tenants for a rental property.  The first is proof of their ability to pay the rent as property managers have a fiduciary duty to the owner, or landlord, to effectively manage the risk of their client’s investment property.  Part of the rental process is to assess whether there is sufficient evidence from the prospective tenant that they would be able to meet the rent. The calculation is generally that rent should not exceed 30 per cent of the total income of all tenants named on the lease.”

The second criterion is evidence of ability to care for a property. Proof of this criterion generally can be provided through a rental or home loan history and/or proof of previous living arrangements, references from previous landlords, and/or personal references.

“In times of increased demand, landlords are also reminded that they must advertise their rental property at a fixed amount,” Mr Kardash said. 

RP Data End of Year Round Up

RP Data has released an end of year roundup video, looking at the Australia housing market.

You can view the video here.

The Long Decline in Australian House Values?

Morning Money, an investment website, has recently published an article:  The Long Drawn Out Retreat in Australian Housing Prices.  It predicts, due to an ageing population, that Australia will not need more housing in the future, and that house prices will decline as baby boomers sell up or die.

Whether the prediction is correct or not, I don't know.  However, I believe that apartments are more suited to an ageing population than stand-alone houses.  That is one reason I prefer apartments to houses.

Soul Surfers Paradise

The receivers of Soul have started a marketing campaign.  See www.soulatsurfersparadise.com.au.  The pricing on the Internet seems to show high discounts for the more expensive apartments.

On the Market

RP Data reports that there are over 88,000 properties advertised for sale in Queensland at present.  This is an increase from this time last year.

BOQ's view

"We've seen signs that it's bottomed and there have been a few good sales on the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and even Cairns,'' Mr Grimshaw said in Brisbane yesterday after BOQ's annual general meeting.

Courier Mail

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.

Off The Plan

Here is an article as to why buying an established apartment is better than buying off the plan.

See Property Observer

Viridian Noosa Massive Discounting

The Viridian Noosa "resort" is discounting the unsold apartments.  The website states that one bedrooms that were $656,000 are now $280,000.  I doubt that this is correct -- most of the one bedrooms were originally sold for less than $600,000, so the discount is probably not as large as stated. Also, it will be interesting to see if they are selling the better apartments at this price, or only the apartments that look at the carpark.  The complex is managed by Outrigger, and is a long walk up the hill from Hastings Street.

REIQ says demand is increasing

Demand for units and townhouses is increasing across Queensland as buyers flock to this more affordable type of property, according to the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ).  

The REIQ September median unit and townhouse price report, released yesterday, found the numbers of sales increased substantially over the period.  Across the State, sales of units and townhouses grew by 40 per cent in the September quarter, compared to the previous quarter. The numbers of sales were also up 14 per cent compared to the same period last year. 

 REIQ CEO Anton Kardash said the data also showed sales increasing for units and townhouses priced under $350,000.  "More than 800 preliminary sales were recorded for properties priced under $250,000, which is a very affordable price for many buyers. This was an increase of nearly 40 per cent on the same period last year.  The greatest numbers of sales was in the $250,000 to $350,000 price bracket, which recorded about 1,250 preliminary sales over the quarter - also an increase on last year.  Units and townhouses continue to be a reasonably priced, and also preferable, option for many buyers who want the convenience of living closer to the city while also keeping a lid on their borrowings." 

There was a noticeable shift in demand for lower-priced units and townhouses in Cairns and the Gold Coast over the quarter with both regions recording significant jumps in the numbers of sales of properties for under $250,000. 

In Brisbane, the median unit and townhouse price increased 0.6 per cent to $405,000 over the September quarter and also recorded a small positive price result over the year ending September. "Brisbane’s median unit price edged up 0.3 per cent over the year which is a welcome result and one we haven’t witnessed for a year or two now.  This is hopefully the start of the pricing turnaround that we have been anticipating given our property market has been improving throughout the year," said Mr Kardash.

Double click image to make bigger

Lead Indicators

RP Data has an interesting article about lead indicators, which are days on market and discount from original list price.

See RP Data article.

Property Market Highlights

HTW's Opinion

As the full effect of the earlier cuts are yet to be observed coupled with the unknown global risks and expectation of slightly higher unemployment, it makes for interesting times for property participants and observers coming up to the "big sleep" over the Christmas / New Year period.
Follow the link below for the December 2012 Month In Review: http://htw.com.au/Month_in_Review/Month-in-Review-December-2012.pdf

The Chelsea - an analysis

Matusik has done a very interesting analysis of The Chelsea development in Bowen Hills, that recently completed.  It is worth studying this analysis.  See The Chelsea.

Some points from the Matusik study:

• More than half the sales were "rebated sales", making it hard to determine the actual sales price.  Most rebates were given early in the sales process.
• It took about 2 years to sell the 177 apartments in the complex.
• Only six apartments have been purchased by owner occupiers.  This is a very low percentage.  (My rule is to purchase only in buildings where there is a high percentage of owner residents in the building.)
• 70% of the buyers appear to be Chinese, either from the Sunnybank area, Southern States, Singapore or elsewhere.
• A number of apartments are now listed for resale, at about 10% below the recorded purchase price (before any rebates are taken into account).

"Too often the last dwellings in a new project are discounted [by the developer].  This undermines the project’s overall value; is very unfair to those who bought early in the piece (regardless of what incentives were offered) and also reduces the developer’s profit (assuming there is any!)"

Market Flat, according to RP Data

Dwelling values across all of Australia’s capital city housing markets, except Melbourne, rose over November with values now just -0.1 per cent lower over the past 12 months.

Across the 8 capital cities, the month of November saw the RP Data-Rismark Home Value index rise 0.4 per cent during the first two weeks only to relinquish these gains in the last two weeks and finish flat for the month.

As usual, there existed notable dispersions in the returns observed across the individual capital cities.  According to RP Data Senior Research Analyst Cameron Kusher, the November market conditions highlight that the road to a market recovery will not be without pauses and those cities which performed very strongly in 2009 and 2010, like Melbourne, may show continued weakness. “Capital city home values remain -5.6 per cent lower than their historic highs of 15 November 2010, but, up 2% from their low of late May 2012."

Home values in Brisbane and Perth remain below where they were five years ago whereas the other mainland cities have all increased over this period. This has meant that relative to the other capital cities, Brisbane and Perth have experienced affordability improvements and subsequently we may see them become more popular from both an owner occupation and investment perspective.

Brisbane apartment prices (to 30 November 2012):
November 2012 - up 2.3%
Quarter - up 1.2%
Year to Date - down 0.7%
Year on Year - down 0.8%
Median price based on settled sales of Brisbane apartments over the quarter - $360,000.

With interest rates falling again this month, the improvement seen in November may continue through the summer months.  BOQ has passed on a 0.2% rate cut, effective 21 December 2012.

HouseNet - real estate social media

An interesting new website is HouseNet -- a social media site for property people.  The cost ranges from nothing to $79 a month, depending on what you want to use the site for.  The site is promoting itself as a replacement for Domain and RealEstate.com.au.

As an aside, RealEstate.com.au only takes listing from real estate agents.  If you are looking to rent, then don't forget to look at Domain.com.au, which also takes listings from private individuals.  So there are different opportunities available on Domain.

El Dorado Indooroopilly

With PCM, the South African property developers, going bust, the El Dorado Cinema complex at Indooroopilly has been sold.  It is not entirely clear if the new owners will develop the same type of complex - apartments, shops, offices and cinema -- on this site.  See Courier Mail

Skyline Sale

Recently, a 3 bedroom apartment in Skyline Apartments sold for $700,000.   Many of the same type of apartment sold off the plan a number of years ago for more than this.  The pricing dropped at around settlement time to just over $700,000, and now it appears that $700,000 is market price for these three bedroom Skyline apartments.

The trouble with Skyline is that it is not direct riverfront, and is crowded out by other buildings.