Posted by admin on 28 January 2011
It looks like one of the first major projects to be “postponed” due to the floods will be the proposed cross river rail project, the subway that was to put new rail stations into the lower CBD, Woolloongabba and other key inner city locations.
When the government first flagged this in 2008 we pricked our ears up – property owners near those locations could see a major improvement in their values as the commute times around the CBD improve. Now the possible 2016 completion has been harpooned and the nasty choking point for a lot of rail traffic, the South Brisbane rail bridge, will just get more and more congested.
This isn’t great news, and hopefully the postponement is a short one. One report today said it might only be a 2 year delay. Let’s hope.
Tags: Brisbane subway, Brisbane traffic
Posted in Brisbane CBD, Brisbane's future & new infrastructure, Woolloongabba | No Comments »
Posted by admin on 28 January 2011
Just 18 months after launching its real estate mapping in Australia, Google has dropped the service. This seems to be one of those great innovations that just didn’t live up to expectations, and many Brisbane home hunters probably didn’t even know about it.
When we wrote about the launch we expected the maps would make life easier for buyers and tenants, and most agents’ listings would be loaded through to Google. But heavyweights realestate.com.au and domain.com.au decided to block the service by not feeding listings through. Agents could load their listings direct themselves, but this takes a lot of admin time. This agency took out a subscription with second tier portal myhome.com.au who were feeding, just so we could get our listings through to Google. But most of our competitors didn’t.
So without a good percentage of available stock, Google’s maps looked a little out of touch. And buyers and tenants will naturally go where they can see the most information in the quickest time.
The big portals to their credit have each ramped up their mapping tools, largely matching Google’s innovations in the area. Realestate.com.au even relaunched their entire site last year to ward off the giant – stuffing plenty of things up in the process but showing how keen they were to find new ways to meet searchers’ needs. We now take many of these for granted, like dynamic maps that allow you to move around and refresh the available homes as you go. You do wonder if we’d have these new tools but for Google’s pressure on the big Australian duopoly.
The rate of innovation in real estate marketing has been rapid over the past year and we hope smart new ideas continue. Hopefully there will be healthy competition to ensure Brisbane’s buyers and tenants, sellers and landlords continue to get what they need from the portals.
Tags: Google Maps, selling a house Brisbane, selling an apartment Brisbane
Posted in real estate marketing | No Comments »
Posted by admin on 25 January 2011
Not a word of a lie – but this was in the Highgate Hill that’s a classy neighbourhood of London, United Kingdom! According to a report Ms Moss has snapped up the 4 storey, 7 bedroom and 625sqm home (pictured).
Apparently the British Highgate Hill is one of London’s highest points and a sought-after part of town. So not entirely unlike our own!
Posted in Highgate Hill, just for fun! | No Comments »
Posted by admin on 21 January 2011
Students and staff who normally use our Citycat and Cityferry services to access UQ St Lucia may have to consider alternate travel options following the flooding in Brisbane last week.
Media reports indicate that whilst nearly half of our Citycat terminals suffered only minor damage and could be fixed relatively quickly, remaining terminals had either significant damage or written off. Those terminals most affected include Sydney St, Regatta, Holman Street, Queensland University of Technology, North Quay, West End and St Lucia/University of Queensland.
It was reported recently Lord Mayor Campbell Newman believes it would take more than a year to rebuild some ferry terminals. So we will probably have disruptions to river based public transport for some time to come.
The Eleanor Schonell Bridge in Dutton Park, built for the exclusive use of pedestrians and buses, remains operational. It provides convenient transport across the Brisbane river to and from the St Lucia campus of UQ, making Dutton Park a great option for those looking to rent or buy close to the University of Queensland.
Brisbane City Council buses operate from the Chancellor’s Place bus stop near the J. D. Story Building, St Lucia and the UQ Lakes bus station via the Eleanor Schonell Bridge. Timetables are available from all Student Centres or by phoning TransLink on 131230 or from their website:
http://www.translink.com.au
Tags: Brisbane City Council, Brisbane floods 2011, Brisbane River, CityCat Brisbane, citycat terminals, Dutton Park, Eleanor Schonell Bridge Brisbane, Lord Mayor Campbell Newman, Translink, University of Queensland, UQ accomodation
Posted in Dutton Park | No Comments »
Posted by admin on 19 January 2011
Talking to reside
nts of Dutton Park’s riverfront properties I got a clear sense of relief that the flood waters did not reach their homes last week. Some residents were also there for the 1974 floods from which they were also spared. In both cases the flood waters may have come into lower areas of some backyards but in both 1974 and 2011 flood peaks did not reach the levels where homes are built.
Take a walk along the riverfront in Dutton Park, near the Eleanor Schonell Bridge and you may come across the flood marker erected by the Brisbane City Council as a reminder of the flood peak of 1974 which will give you a sense of how high the 1974 peak was in relation to homes in the area.
It seems Dutton Park might be somewhat of a rarity for an inner city, riverfront suburb being so close to the Brisbane River, yet having been spared from both 1974 and 2011 flood peaks. It also has the benefit of its proximity to entertainment hubs, univerities and good transport links.
Tags: 1974 floods, Brisbane, Brisbane City Council, Brisbane floods 2011, Brisbane River, Dutton Park, Eleanor Schonell Bridge Brisbane, flood, flood peaks
Posted in Dutton Park, trends in Brisbane property | No Comments »
Posted by admin on 19 January 2011
We’re regularly updating this blog as new flood info comes to hand. Click through to read more.
Posted in Inner Brisbane events | No Comments »
Posted by admin on 19 January 2011
You have to keep your sense of humour! Photo by Brad Marsellos
Many out of town clients have been asking for resources to get a better understanding of what Brisbane suburbs actually flooded. Here’s some handy links:
Aerial photography of Brisbane floods – use the box in the top left to choose the street and suburb you’re interested in, just be careful to choose January 13th as the date you need. Not all parts of Brisbane were shot on that date, and of course the pics aren’t necessarily the exact moment of maximum inundation for all properties. But a great site to bookmark for the future.
Also try this ABC News page for interactive before and afters.
If you’re on Facebook this collection has over 1,800 reader contributed photos, many of them an amazing record that could only be captured by the people in and amongst the flooding.
One of the better YouTube compilation videos of the Brisbane flooding.
And go to Flickr for one of the biggest collections of photos, with many showing flooded Brisbane homes.
Brisbane City Council has been excellent at keeping residents informed through the crisis.
Please make a contribution to the Premier’s Flood Appeal, however small, to assist the victims. And if you’re a business owner wanting to do your bit please go to www.flooddiscounts.com.au , a great way tooffer something to residents who are going through tough times.
Read more of our posts on the 2011 Brisbane floods.
Tags: Brisbane floods 2011
Posted in Dutton Park, Highgate Hill, Inner Brisbane events, South Brisbane and South Bank, Spring Hill, West End, Woolloongabba | No Comments »
Posted by admin on 19 January 2011
and the clean up begins
A reported 11,900 Brisbane homes were completely flooded last week, with another 14,700 partially flooded. So naturally there’s some panic that Brisbane is about to have a severe housing crisis. If you’ve been forced from your home this is a heartwrenching time and our thoughts are very much with those residents.
But in looking at the potential rental demand we just don’t believe the numbers of inner-city tenants looking for a new dwelling is anywhere near as high as they’re being reported.
Estimates had to be given, no-one can physically check every home and we don’t know the source of the Courier Mail’s data. But according to a spreadsheet on their website South Brisbane for example had 2,132 residential properties either fully or partially flooded. But out there on the ground we just can’t find them! There’s no lines of debris on the footpaths, no army assistance and little of that muddy stench that’s already the tell-tale of a submerged Brisbane street. Brisbane CBD has 1,199 residential dwellings inundated according to the list but most, if not all, of these will be highrise towers.
A number of buildings had some water into their basements and the limited access and power outages are a pain in the backside. A number of these residents have had to seek short-term accommodation. But how many will need new homes? In perhaps many inner-Brisbane suburbs, the numbers may be a lot less than anticipated.
The RTA yesterday released their rental data for the December quarter and it shows many inner-Brisbane suburbs have already had a small rent rise, something we’ve seen amongst our rentals for some weeks now. January and February are our peak leasing months, especially near the universities, and we were expecting a rise in rents before the floods.
Short-term accommodation will be strained to capacity, and rents will see some solid growth. But in our view landlords shouldn’t count on skyrocketing rents as a result of the floods.
To see the latest median rental data for your suburb (choose your bedroom number and dwelling type) go to www.WhatRentMyHome.com.au
Tags: Brisbane floods 2011, Brisbane rents, Brisbane short term rental, median rents Brisbane, rental supply Brisbane
Posted in Brisbane landlords, Brisbane's rental market, Dutton Park, Highgate Hill, South Brisbane and South Bank, Spring Hill, West End, Woolloongabba, trends in Brisbane property | No Comments »
Posted by Rob Honeycombe on 18 January 2011
photo from Brisbane Area Flood Photos & Info on Facebook
Brisbane is picking itself up from possibly our worst natural disaster. Lives were lost and damage is significant. Two of the Bees Nees team suffered flooded homes this past week so we won’t be understating what’s been a major event for Brisbane.
With the media’s frenzy of interest over the past 2 days we do think some common sense is getting lost in an increasingly emotional debate about home prices. There’s no doubt homes that were completely flooded will see a drop in value. We’ve talked to some old heads in our industry, including two who worked in the aftermath of 1974’s floods, and they offered an informed opinion on how much that might be. We also spoke to the head of a national property valuation firm and interestingly he offered the same number – “up to 20 or 25%”.
This is a big potential reduction and all agree luxury riverfront homes will be worst hit. Cheaper properties might not drop as much, and buying a home that flooded in 2011 might soon be comparable to living on a main road or a railway line: you put up with it to have a better home for the same price.
The scaremongering talk in the media of 50% plus drops is just not based in fact, and irrational fear can follow. Will some flooded home owners panic-sell? Maybe. Will bargain hunters be waiting? Of course. But for most owners of flooded homes we’d expect they will clean up, move back, and accept that their property’s value will not be the same. Based on the 1974 experience there won’t be half-price-homes nor a large number on the market.
Partial flooding might only have a relatively small impact on prices. Houses that had water in their yards only, apartments that stayed dry but with basements that flooded – what will buyers make of these? It’s too early to really know, but early signs are that the appeal of inner city living is still stronger than ever and many buyers will accept some risk to be a part of this.
In 1974 no-one knew what flooded and painted lines on the streets recorded the high water marks. Today there’s a huge number of aerial photography sites and Flickr, YouTube and Facebook pages that have catalogued the damage. Home buyers might actually start using Council’s flood mapping info, launched after our last major flood event in May 2009. (Interestingly we had a third of our average annual rainfall on that one day, a reported 15% of homes were affected and 20 months later it’s already been forgotten by many of us…)
Will “dry” properties experience a boom? Based on the minimal true effect on our housing stock our ‘old heads’ just don’t see enough reason for a price spike. We are in for a surge of spending on renovations and some commentators believe this will give the local economy a huge shot in the arm. Market analyst Michael Matusik believes there could be a silver lining with the flood aftermath and renewed civic pride a “key ingredient to restore long term confidence.”
A lot of Brisbanites are suffering right now and it’s definitely not business as usual for inner-Brisbane real estate. But when the flood effect on home prices is debated at your next weekend barbecue we’d encourage you to see through the hype and consider why homes in these areas have always been so sought-after by home buyers. How much of that has changed?
We’d love to hear your opinions.
Tags: Brisbane flood mapping, Brisbane floods 2011, Michael Matusik
Posted in Brisbane's sales market, Dutton Park, Highgate Hill, Inner Brisbane events, South Brisbane and South Bank, Spring Hill, West End, Woolloongabba, real estate marketing, trends in Brisbane property | 4 Comments »
Tucked away in an area of Woolloongabba the locals refer to as “The Pocket” sits a community garden established by residents and created to provide an opportunity for those interested to meet socially and learn about growing organic produce.
