Posted by admin on 20 April 2010
Remember when “burning off” was a Saturday afternoon smell? Someone in the street would have just finished cleaning up their yard and lit their little pile of dried branches, leaves and anything else they could find that would light up.Mum would have to race out and bring in the washing so everything didn’t smell like smoke.
It wasn’t that long ago…. and here’s some evidence at Camelot Terrace apartments on Dornoch Terrace at West End. You won’t see it driving by, but if you visit someone in this building make sure you pay attention to the “Goodrid Incinerators” instruction plate on the side so you don’t stoke the fire at the wrong time.
Tags: Camelot Terrace, Dornoch Terrace Brisbane
Posted in West End | No Comments »
Posted by Rob Honeycombe on 19 April 2010
More future-gazing this week and here’s another innovation that may soon change the way we sell and lease Brisbane real estate.
Geo-fencing is not new technology. Using GPS systems you create a virtual boundary fence in a real world geographic area, and are sent an alert when a device crosses the ‘fence’. It’s used to track Kenyan elephants – when they pass a certain checkpoint the park rangers get an SMS. Stolen cars can be remotely turned off using these systems and Americans use it to keep an eye on their kids (sounds perfect for teenage daughters!) And it may soon be on a real estate portal near you.
Imagine you’ve registered all your criteria for your desired home (bedroom numbers, price etc) and walking through your preferred neighbourhood one morning you get an SMS to tell you you’re about to pass a new listing that matches. The next open home time is included or you can reply to have the agent to call and organise your inspection. Finding Brisbane real estate on your phone is no longer new, but this is an electronic tap on the shoulder – you no longer need to do the searching. A basic GPS matched system, it’s not a complicated process and we understand several US portals are close to implementation.
Recent innovations in property marketing have been all about increased availability of info – better real estate mapping, virtual reality video overlays and broader search criteria. All are designed to help a buyer or tenant cut through the clutter and see only the listings they want. Geo-fencing is immediate, local and specific to your personal needs so we’d expect it to be a real hit.
Meantime local portal behemoth realestate.com.au launched its new ‘face’ this month and the industry collectively stifled a yawn. There are some good ‘about-time’ improvements, such as finally allowing buyers to search from the first page, rather than 2-clicking. For the most part though it’s only a tweak on the old version.
Good to see the addition of dynamic mapping (Google’s big innovation that they’ve now matched) which means you’ll be offered results outside your search area. We’re guessing this will see increased interest in some suburbs where a neighbouring address has a dearer price point. Suddenly suburb boundaries won’t be as relevant and it’s likely more and more buyers will use mapping as their search tool of choice.
What do you think of the ‘new’ realestate.com.au? We’d love to hear your comments.
Tags: Brisbane home buyers, dynamic real estate mapping, Google Maps, GPS real estate mapping, property geo-fencing, selling a house Brisbane, selling an apartment Brisbane, technology, www.realestate.com.au
Posted in real estate marketing | No Comments »
Posted by admin on 19 April 2010
The latest stats are out for the rental market in West End, South Brisbane and Highgate Hill. The big news in the data is the recent growth of the rental pool in Brisbane’s inner city. After 3 years of shrinking supply tenants now have more properties to choose from (139 more in this area compared to the end of 2009), largely due to investors returning to the sales market. So it’s encouraging for landlords that rents still snuck up in the March 2010 quarter, with median rent for a 2 bedroom apartment now $460. Of course this is only just back to where we were in June of last year, so it’s a little early to celebrate!. There’s a smaller number of rented houses in the area and their rent also rose – now $480 for a 3 bed.
This is still far and away the most expensive rental destination in Brisbane and the stable rents confirm that the area needs more new apartments to fill demand. While the new developments of 2003 to 2006 did boost supply enormously the number of rental homes on offer to tenants is still not growing at the rate needed.
Note: RTA stats quoted here cover all of postcode 4101 including Highgate Hill and South Brisbane.
Tags: Brisbane rents
Posted in Brisbane's rental market, Highgate Hill, South Brisbane and South Bank, West End | No Comments »
Posted by admin on 18 April 2010
When the major daily metro paper runs a front page article talking the market up it’s almost a self-fulfilling prophesy! Headlining with “house prices start to roar” the Courier Mail has a million readers on a Saturday so it was no surprise our open homes were a flurry of activity. There’s some real confidence about.
We read elsewhere that one “property expert” predicts a 30% rise in Brisbane real estate prices over the next 3 years. Regular readers of this blog will know we’re a little cynical about property data and believe few forecasters ever get close to the mark. There is definitely a shortage of listings around the inner city though and we aren’t surprised by reports some buyers are offering more than asking price.
The one really encouraging sign for us is the increases in Sydney and Melbourne house prices, reportedly roaring toward double-digit annual growth. Many of you will remember the stream of southern buyers that flowed to the Sunshine State once the gap in our prices became clear in the early 2000’s. If it happens again that extra demand will be fun to have!
Posted in Brisbane's sales market | No Comments »
Posted by admin on 17 April 2010
A garage sale in Highgate Hill?… not this time. Just a lonely piano which might have played it’s last note. Not what you expect to see on the driveway of a Dornoch Terrace home – but there it was this early this morning when I was out for my morning walk. If you tried to play it as you walked by we’d love to hear.
Tags: Dornoch Terrace Brisbane, garage sale, Music, piano
Posted in Highgate Hill, just for fun! | No Comments »
Posted by admin on 14 April 2010
The latest rental stats have been released and they help explain the large number of rentals currently available. Here’s our Research team’s media release:
Brisbane’s rental market has had a massive boost, with over 1100 homes added to the rental pool in the first quarter of 2010. According to new Residential Tenancies Authority stats the past year’s decline in the number of rented homes has finally stopped.
Bees Nees Research Managing Director, Rob Honeycombe says investors have replaced first home buyers and are offering Brisbane’s tenants more choice.
“Investors have been sitting on the sidelines and during 2009 the rental pool just continued to shrink. There’s now a lot more confidence in bricks and mortar and the RTA stats show property investors have started to dive in,” Mr Honeycombe said.
The RTA track all rental bonds and across Brisbane the total leapt by 1145 in the March quarter. Mr Honeycombe said this data followed this week’s ABS finance stats which showed investors’ share of lending is growing strongly.
“The inner city has been the standout, with 693 extra rental homes added since the start of 2010. That’s more growth in a quarter than we’ve seen since 2006.”
Mr Honeycombe said rents had mostly showed small gains, with Brisbane’s median 2 bedroom apartment rent now at $365 per week.
To get the latest median rent for your suburb visit www.WhatRentMyHome.com.au
Tags: Brisbane housing supply, Brisbane real estate statistics, Brisbane rents, median rents Brisbane, rental supply Brisbane, Residential Tenancies Authority, tenant marketing Brisbane
Posted in Brisbane landlords, trends in Brisbane property | No Comments »
Posted by admin on 12 April 2010
Some guy bought a new fridge for his house. To get rid of his old fridge, he put it in his front yard and hung a sign on it saying: ‘Free to good home. You want it, you take it.’
For three days the fridge sat there without anyone looking twice.He eventually decided that people were too mistrustful of this deal.So he changed the sign to read: ‘Fridge for sale $50.’
The next day someone stole it!
Tags: bad but clean jokes
Posted in just for fun! | No Comments »
Posted by admin on 12 April 2010
Mask-up, get your feathers on and head down to Souths Leagues Club at Davies Park, West End on Saturday May 15 for the 2010 West End Carnivale!
If you enjoyed the very first West End Carnivale last year, you’re going to love it this time with over 50 acts featuring a mighty gypsy reggae line up, at the fantastic riverside grounds of Brisbane.
West End Carnivale is all about promoting the local artists of Brisbane and will also include an amazing lineup of world music. Expect a highly energetic Brazilian and Caribbean inspired performance and dress to add some colour and have fun!
Rio Rhythmics will be back with their famous costumed dancers and percussion ensemble to get the party started
West End Carnivale is all ages and under 12’s are free!
Tickets?? – Check out all the details at westendcarnivale.com.au
Tags: Davies Park West End Brisbane, Rio Rhythmics, Souths Leagues Club West End Brisbane, West End Carnivale
Posted in West End | No Comments »
Posted by admin on 11 April 2010
West End's backyards are full of fruit and vegies
These Banana trees stood out as we were doing our rounds of West End again this week. I think it was the nostalgia that hit me … I do remember Dad with the machete, cutting down a bunch of lady fingers in our backyard when I was a kid. Thanks to my friend, Simon, who lives in Highgate Hill, I have 2 types of passionfruit in my yard which fruit at different times of the year…but no Bananas. The Davies Park fruit and vegies are good… but there’s nothing quite like growing your own.
Tags: bananas, Davies Park West End Brisbane, Fruit and vegies
Posted in Highgate Hill, West End | No Comments »
Posted by admin on 9 April 2010
As the Bees Nees’ specialist in South Brisbane I spend a lot of time in the suburb’s apartment buildings. In this series of posts on South Brisbane apartments I’ve profiled some of them to give you a taste of life in this exciting suburb!
Greenwich on Cordelia Apartments – 14 Cordelia St, South Brisbane
| Number of apartments |
24 |
| Developer |
Aria Property International |
| Size and previous land use |
911m2, industrial shed |
| Builder |
CMF Projects |
| Architects |
Kowalski Architects |
| Year of completion |
2005 |
| Number of 1 bedroom apts |
4 |
| Number of 2 bedroom apts |
10 |
| Number of 3 bedroom apts |
10 |
| Amenities |
Residents can choose to entertain at home in their apartment or on the rooftop terrace with a plunge pool and spa, bbq and large entertaining area. |
| Other comments |
Greenwich Apartments is a boutique development of only 24 spacious one, two and three bedroom apartments with stunning views to the city and across South Brisbane. |
| Recent sales |
Dec 2009 1 bed $350,000; August 20093 bed $590,000 For an estimate of the current sale price of your apartment please call Josh Manson on 07 3214 6800
|
| Current rents |
2 bed 2 bath rented in January 2010 for $550; 2 bed 2 bath rented in March 2010 for $600 For an over the phone estimate of current rents in Greenwich please call our Property Management team on 07 3214 6899 or email info@beesnees.com.au |
| Views and aspect? |
North to the city and south across West End |
| Are pets allowed? |
Yes, with body corporate approval |
Do you live in the Greenwich apartments? Tell us what you think – we’d love to hear your comments!
Rooftop outlook of Greenwich apartments over Brisbane city
The interiors of a top floor 2 bedroom apartment at Greenwich
The 6 storey Greenwich Apartment building in South Brisbane
The rooftop plunge pool at South Brisbane's Greenwich Apartments
For more info or an estimate on the current market price of your Greenwich apartment please call Josh on 0404 423 530.
Tags: Aria Property Brisbane, Cordelia Street South Brisbane, Greenwich on Cordelia South Brisbane, Kowalski Architects Brisbane, South Brisbane apartment buildings
Posted in South Brisbane and South Bank | No Comments »
Remember when “burning off” was a Saturday afternoon smell? Someone in the street would have just finished cleaning up their yard and lit their little pile of dried branches, leaves and anything else they could find that would light up.Mum would have to race out and bring in the washing so everything didn’t smell like smoke.
