I’m the Bees Nees team member who specialises in this exciting area, and in the posts below you’ll find plenty of info on the latest local events and property news. If you’d like recent stats on the local market download our research team’s South Brisbane “Market in a Nutshell”
Rob Honeycombe
ps: What would your property sell for? Please give me a buzz on 0423 332 022 or read more about me.
One of the new cranes on our local streets is for the new Common Ground housing project in Hope Street. It’s been a long time in the planning, bringing a desperately needed facility with these new South Brisbane apartments.
There’s a public info session coming up on Tuesday May 17th, so if you’d like to go along and learn more about the building and how it will operate email Micah Projects info@micahprojects.org.au or phone them on 3029 7000.
The March quarter stats are out from the Residential Tenancies Authority and after a couple of years of fairly stable rents we’ve now had 2 quarters of growth in postcode 4101. The median rent for a two bedroom apartment has hit $500 per week, a significant milestone as the first area outside the CBD to reach that mark. It’s good news for patient landlords.
And interestingly the gap between postcode 4000 and 4101 is shrinking noticably. It’s now just $40/week dearer to live in the CBD than the West End/South Brisbane/Highgate Hill area, where it was $100 more a couple of years back. Why? One reason is the new developments through West End’s riverside precinct that have added a number of quality apartments with typically high rents. The inner-south’s early history may have been working class, but these suburb’s tenants now pay some of the highest rents in Queensland.
Go to www.WhatRentMyHome.com.au to see current median rents for other Brisbane suburbs. Note: RTA stats quoted here cover all of postcode 4101 including Highgate Hill, South Brisbane and West End.
Russell Street could soon be home to a new 165 apartment building, with developer David Devine turning his attention to the inner south. Today’s Courier Mail reports Devine’s Metro Developments has bought the land on the corner of Manning Street, and is planning a new apartment project for market release in 2012. The land is opposite Stefan’s colourful sky-needle.
Devine was behind much of the early 2000’s residential development in the CBD and we believe this would be his first project on this side of the river. It’s another strong sign of confidence in the area. His track record has been to launch apartment projects with plenty of energy and marketing firepower, so we’d be surprised if this one doesn’t happen. We could expect completion of the building at the end of 2013.
Current apartment projects in the suburb are selling fairly well “off the plan” at the moment, with interstate investors especially showing plenty of faith in our neighbourhood and its future.
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.
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
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.
High tide today was around 11.30am at West End and the River was lapping the top of the bank just in front of the Koko Apartments. One CityCat cruised past and the waves rolled over onto the footpath.
The good news is the 2.41m tide won’t be repeated this week.
An artist's impression of Common Ground Queensland's new project; image courtesy BrisbaneTimes.com.au
This is traditionally the time of year when we indulge and relax, but hopefully also turn our thoughts to others who don’t share the same good fortune. Earlier this week construction started on South Brisbane’s newest apartment development, and one that will make a huge difference for many Brisbanites.
We’ve been following Common Ground Queensland since its launch last year and the vision of this organization, inspired by an innovative New Yorker named Rosanne Haggerty, is simply ground-breaking. When complete in 2012 the 146 apartment building in Hope Street will provide accommodation for our local homeless, and what’s so new about the project is that it will both house them and work to break their cycle of homelessness. Regaining their health and economic independence. Gaining life skills through living alongside local workers.
An online article announcing this week’s start drew the expected public criticisms in the comments section. South Brisbane doesn’t need “more vagabonds”. It should be built out in the suburbs somewhere. And similar.
So why do we support it? On census night 2006 there were 26,000 Queenslanders noted as “homeless”. We can’t shove this group out of sight, we can’t hope the problem will go away and many of the current solutions seem to be failing. We can’t pretend it’s not happening and everyone in Brisbane’s inner city will benefit if programs like this succeed.
Common Ground is a novel concept, a program with a great track record in the US and a history of success. Please donate to the project and its management or visit the website to learn more.
Please post a comment below.
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!
Allegro Apartments – 60 Cordelia St, South Brisbane
| Number of apartments | 117 |
| Builder and Developer | Pradella Group |
| Size and previous land use | 4104m², industrial shed |
| Architects | Pradella Group |
| Year of completion | 2007 |
| Number of studio apts | 16 |
| Number of 1 bedroom apts | 16 |
| Number of 2 bedroom apts | 85 |
| Amenities |
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| Other comments | 2007 Winner Apartment Project of the Year |
| Recent sales | November 2009 1 bed $368,000; October 2010 2 bed $460,000 For an estimate of the current sale price of your apartment please call Josh Manson on 0404 423 530 or email joshm@beesnees.com.au |
| Current rents | For an over the phone estimate of current rents in Allegro please call our Senior Property Manager, Annie Von Rudzinski on 0431 608 422 or email anniev@beesnees.com.au |
| Views and aspect? | Practically a 360º sweep of Brisbane with many apartments boasting a northern view of the city lights and then a large range with southern balconies that look over St. Andrews church. |
| Are pets allowed? | Yes with body corporate approval |
Do you live in the Allegro apartments? Tell us what you think – we’d love to hear your comments!
The main entry to Allegro
The 25m pool is well maintained
Allegro Apartments have a large gym, media room and recreation area
A typical Allegro kitchen
For more info or an estimate on the current market price of your Greenwich apartment please call Josh on 0404 423 530.
It wouldn’t raise a mention in many parts of the world, Asia and Europe especially. But new stats from the West End State School show 32% of their students are currently living in local apartments. They have 700 students so that’s a lot of non-house-dwelling primary school kids.
Many Brisbanites still see apartment living as the lifestyle of choice for singles and couples only, but that’s clearly not the case. Families are choosing them for their convenience and often for their price.
Even more reason to ensure we have great parks and local amenities.
