Brisbane Apartment's blog

Sales Data for Recent Brisbane City Apartment Resales

Here are the recent reported apartment sales in the larger Brisbane downtown buildings.  Most of these sales closed in the period from late October to early December 2011.

Charlotte Towers

• Apt 2110, 1 bed, 1 bath, 1 car - $382,000

Aurora

• Apt 393, 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - $665,000
• Apt 236, 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - $515,000
• Apt 512, 2 bed, 1 bath, 1 car - $582,000

Festival Towers

• Apt 3401, 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - $475,000
• Apt 1707, 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - $440,000
• Apt 2110, 1 bed, 1 bath, ? car - $350,000

Felix

• Apt 356, 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - $505,000
• Apt 276, 2 bed, 1 bath, 1 car - $492,000

River Place (82 Boundary Street)

• Apt 302, 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - $690,000
• Apt 326, 3 bed, 2 bath, 2 car - $1,497,000
• Apt 231, 2 bed, 1 bath, 1 car - $423,000
• Apt 110, 1 bed, 1 bath, 1 car - $410,000

Skyline

• Apt 55, 1 bed - $320,000
• Apt 131, 3 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - $700,000

Admiralty Quays

• Apt 9, 3 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - $900,000
• Apt 67, 1 bed, 1 bath, 1 car - $580,000
• Apt 135, 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - $780,000

Admiralty Towers Two

• Apt 57, 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car (103 sqm) - $660,000

No reported recent sales (last October to early December) in Casino Towers, Quay West or Admiralty Towers One.

 

Off-the-plan risks

Brisbane property commentator Michael Matusik published some articles recently about the risks of buying of the plan.  See:
Risks 1 to 3
Follow Up Comments

For a more detailed analysis, see the recently published Kindle Book: Buying An Apartment Off The Plan in Queensland - A Guide For Successful Buying.  
You can download this book to a Kindle, iPhone, iPad or computer.  Kindles are available for sale from BigW in Brisbane.  The cost of this book is less than $10, so good value if you are planning on spending money on an apartment in Queensland.

Chinese In Retreat

A report from a respected Australian journalist:

"Australia’s largest apartment developer, Harry Triguboff, has confirmed that Chinese buying of inner-Sydney apartments has halved in the last month. The China squeeze on its property market and fears about the level of our dollar are now having a direct effect on the Australian dwelling market. 

Triguboff believes that the sharp cutback in Chinese apartment demand will probably reduce apartment prices in Sydney by about 10%, but the prices will not collapse. He believes that a fall in apartment prices will flow on to the whole dwelling market in Sydney."

Full story here.

Harry Triguboff is the owner of Meriton, that is developing  two massive apartment towers in Brisbane, Soleil and Infinity, where most of the buyers are reported to be Chinese.  It is uncertain what impact China will have on the Brisbane apartment market.

Is the Brisbane property market improving?

I find it useful to look at recent sales of apartments, and compare the price at which the apartment sold with the price that the vendor originally paid for the apartment.  I find this is more useful than looking at medium or average prices.  

For example, if a building has a mix of one and two bedroom apartments, and for the last six months, only one bedroom apartments are sold, then the medium price will decrease.  This does not tell us whether the one bedroom apartments went up or down in value.

I recently had a look at sales in the Fresh Apartment building on boundary where Taringa mets Toowong, at 20 Campbell Street.   This building had its carpark flooded in the 2011 floods, but no apartments had water in.  The two magnificent pools were not flooded either.  It was developed by Vecchio, who is currently developing Rive Apartments (see post above.)

Apt 20:.  This apartment is 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 120 sqm (85 internal, 35 balcony).  In March 2007, it was advertised off-the-plan for $459,000.  The next year, it was still for sale off-the-plan for $504,000.  It was sold by the developer in May 2008 for $566,000 (probably this was above market price).  The first owner then resold it in November 2009 for $537,000. 

Apt 23:  This is a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment, with a North East Aspect over the pool.  It is 148 sqm in total. It was sold off-the-plan for $669,000 in July 2007.  It resold in September 2011 for $569,000.

Apt 54:  This is a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom penthouse apartment.  It is 117 sqm internal plus a large 84 sqm balcony.  It sold off-the-plan in April 2007 for $807,000.  It resold in August 2011 for $600,000.

This developer is now building and selling apartments called Rive.  Rivé Apartments near the Breakfast Creek Hotel are nearing completion.

One bedroom (77 sqm total) from $409,000.  Two bedrooms (106 sqm and larger) from $545,000.  Maybe you would do better buying a resale in Fresh than a new apartment in Rive. 

Brisbane Apartment

This blog has moved to www.brisbane-apartment.com.

Some popular posts include:

• Buying off the plan from Juniper, which discussed Soul at Surfers Paradise
• 111 + 222 approved for the Vision site
• Soleil pricing not holding up?
• Brisbane sale volumes
• Charlotte Towers - recent sales
• Oversupply at Northshore Hamilton
• Two books to read before you buy in Brisbane or Queensland

Buying Off the Plan in Queensland

If you are buying an apartment off the plan in Queensland, you want to make a knowledgable decision.

Some off the plan apartment projects have good value apartments, and so may not.  Each floorplan for an apartment may suit your requirements, or it may not.

Buying off the plan is risky.  So get the right advice first.  Buy this ebook from Amazon Buying An Apartment Off The Plan in Queensland - A Guide For Successful Buying.

Whether you are thinking about buying in Brisbane, in Noosa, the Gold Coast or the Sunshine Coast, you need the right knowledge to make sure that you buy the right apartment for you, at the right price.  This book is particularly useful for Chinese and other foreign investors, who are buyers of property in Queensland.

New Book: Investing in Brisbane Apartments

I recommend a new book published last week, Investing in Brisbane Apartments - A Guide for Successful Investing.

Currently, this book is available only via the Amazon Kindle store.  If you don't have a Kindle, then you can download for free Kindle software apps for an iPad, iPhone, Mac or PC.  If you can read this blog, then you can use Kindle software to read this new book.  Click on the following link for the software to read this book:

Kindle Reading Apps

The Chapters include:

• Apartments as Investments
• Buying Decisions
• Off the plan apartments
• Renting Your Apartment
• Foreign Investors
• Legal Structures for Apartments

Investing in Brisbane Apartments - A Guide for Successful Investing

New Book: Investing in Brisbane Apartments

Hamilton Harbour Sales

Brisbane developer Devine reports to the Australian Stock Exchange, as at 25 August 2011, in relation to its Hamilton Harbour apartment development:

"Continued strong sales performance

• HarbourOne - 98%sold ($137 million in value)

• HarbourTwo - 86% sold ($92 million in value)

• Riverside - 60% sold ($57 million in value)

Construction on schedule for all three towers:

• TowerOne 78% complete

• TowerTwo 63% complete

• TowerThree commenced

Significant progress on mixed-use elements of Hamilton Harbour with strong retail and commercial leasing underway

Construction on Hamilton Harbour is ahead of schedule and under budget with completion of first two towers in first half of FY12

• Hamilton Harbour TowersOne and Two are both ‘topped out’, with fit-out complete on over 60% of apartments

• Construction delivered revenue of $108 million

• Devine Construction awarded $60 million contract to build ‘Riverside’ – the third tower at Hamilton Harbour."

So, Riverside is costing $60 million to build (including profit for the builder); and 60% sold gives $57 million in sales. Looks like a good profit margin here for Devine.

Devine's Plans

Devine reports that it has secured the opportunity to build a 107 apartment project in Teneriffe, launching in the first half of 2012.

In addition, Devine has two pending apartment projects in the Brisbane CBD, one on Albert Street at the corner of Margaret Street (the Camelot site) and another nearby on Margaret Street opposite the synagogue. From Devine's reports, it looks like these two city buildings are a long way off.

 

Update from RP Data

"Australians are choosing to own their homes for longer with the average time frame between house sales increasing from 6.8 years 10 years ago to 8.6 years in 2011. [For Brisbane apartments, the average hold period is 6.8 years, which is an increase of 7 months over the past ten years.]

The RP Data-Rismark Home Value Index results for July 2011 will be released on Wednesday next week. We anticipate that the results aren’t likely to show much deviation from the past month to month trend; the market is flat to falling, Sydney is the best performer while Brisbane and Perth are the laggards. In recent months the rate of value decline has been slowing with a fall of just -0.2% during June across the combined capital cities. We expect fairly similar conditions when the July results are released next week. Certainly with low levels of consumer confidence we would not expect an improvement in sales volumes or return to value growth so long as consumers continue to act in a cautious nature.

The total number of properties listed for sale remains at elevated levels, increasing by 4.3% over the week nationally and by 5.4% across the combined capital cities. Total listings remain at elevated levels, 33.1% higher than they were last year nationally and 32.0% higher across the capital cities. It will be interesting to see what happens with listings in the coming week, given the weak market conditions and inflated listing volumes an increase coming in to spring would not be beneficial for the market."

Meriton's Soleil Still Has Plenty of Apartments For Sale

Meriton's Soleil building in Adelaide Street, Brisbane, appears to have reached full height. It is tall and skinny. The building is 74 floors, 234 metres, and has 464 apartments. Meriton is not selling the top 10 floors or so, and will rent them out (I suspect on a short term basis).

I have looked at the sales board, and tried to work out the number of apartments for sale. This is my estimate:

• Studios - 27 in total, 12 remaining for sale
• One bedrooms - 234 in total, 132 remaining for sale
• Two bedrooms - 168 in total, 45 remaining for sale
• Three bedrooms - 35 in total, 17 remaining for sale

Thus, in total, there are 206 out of 464 remaining for sale, or 44%.

(These numbers assume that the top 10 floors, or 42 apartments, are not for sale.)

So one can conclude that since the launch of the selling campaign for this building in October 2008, 46% of the apartments in the building have sold. At this selling rate, it will take another 2 to 3 years to sell the available unsold apartments in this building. Anyone who buys off-the-plan and needs to sell soon will be competing with the developer selling new stock for some time to come.

The building has some downsides. Having so many apartments, there will always be apartments for sale or rent. The facilities, such as the gym, will have to service a huge number of residents. Image trying to book the 12 seat theatre or the meeting room, when you are competing with 460 other apartments. Also, are there enough elevators? Also, there is no ducted air-conditioning -- there are split system air-conditioning units, with headends in some rooms, and the fan unit located in a service area on the floor.

Example pricing:

• Apt 1802, 1 bed, 51 sqm = $402,000
• Apt 2207, 1 bed, 51 sqm = $426,000
• Apt 2703, 2 bed, 70 sqm = $572,000
• Apt 5701, 2 bed, 80 sqm = $807,000
• Apt 5002, 3 bed, 103 sqm = $852,000

In my view, for this size and quality apartment, the pricing is expensive.

Contract Cancelled Due to Flood

Mirvac lost a legal battle in the Queensland Court of Appeal last week, in relation to an apartment at Tennyson Reach that flooded in January 2011.

Mirvac had two senior counsel to argue this appeal - it flew up Alan Myers QC from Melbourne and also used a local Senior Counsel -- both very expensive barristers. But that did not assist. The buyer was allowed out of the contract.

See Judgment and The Australian.

Market Update

• Capital Gains and Losses
• Recent Riparian Sales
• Soleil
• Viridian Noosa - Receiver's Sale
• Hamilton Harbour
• Foreshore at Hamilton by Mirvac
• RP Data June Report
• Charlotte Towers
• Bowen Hills

Ray White Auction Results for Brisbane Apartments

Late in May 2011, Ray White had an auction where 12 Brisbane inner city apartments went to auction. Only one sold at auction (1201 in UniLodge for just over $100,000). Over a week after the auction, most of the apartments that did not sell at the auction are still listed for sale. Why vendors decide to go to auction in Brisbane amazes me. These apartments are not selling at the prices listed below, so the market must be saying that they are worth less than this. And why buy an off the plan apartment for more than these prices?  

Some examples of the many apartments that Ray White was unable to sell:

• Felix, Apt 121, 1 bed, no car - failed to sell at or after auction, now listed for $330,000
• Felix, Apt 147, 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car, end apartment - failed to sell at or after auction, now listed for $470,000
• Charlotte Towers, Apt 605, 1 bed, no car - failed to sell at or after auction, now listed for $315,000
• Charlotte Towers, Apt 2401, 1 bed, 1 car - failed to sell at or after auction, now listed for at the unrealistic price of $410,000
• Festival Towers, Apt 906, 1 bed, no car - failed to sell at or after auction, now listed for $320,000
• River Park Central - Apt 603, 2 bed, 2 bath - failed to sell at or after auction, now listed for $410,000
• River City, Apt 1803, 2 bed, 2 bath - failed to sell at or after auction, now listed for $433,000
• Aurora, Apt 626, 3 bed - failed to sell at or after auction, now listed for $1,300,000
• Grosvenor, Apt 1504, 3 bed - - failed to sell at or after auction, now listed for $1,800,000.

 

Tennyson Reach Halved

Mirvac was developing Tennyson Reach, and aimed to have six apartment buildings along the river. Three have been built. They flooded. The apartments have dropped significantly in value (even prior to the floods). Three more apartment buildings were planned. Mirvac has now abandoned Tennyson Reach as a bad dream. No more apartments are to be built. I guess this means that the current owners should be happy that there will be less competition from future development. But it also shows that Mirvac thinks there will be no demand for further apartments in this out-of-the-way location that has few amenities.

Mosaic Grand Chifley

The Mosaic apartment development has added a 41 room hotel component. That is a small hotel. The hotel will be branded as a Grand Chifley hotel, operated by Constellation Hotels (that also appears to have purchased the management rights for the apartment building.) The hotel opening date is expected to be mid-2013.  

I am not sure if I would be happy with this if I had purchased an off-the-plan apartment in Mosaic prior to this announcement.

May Update

I am not updating this blog as regularly as in the past.  I am updating the Brisbane Apartment blog.

Some recent posts:

• Keeping A Dog Is Not Unreasonable
• A New Vision 111plus222
• New Flood Maps
• Watch Out For Illegal Conduct of Developers
• Foreshore Hamilton
• Casino Towers - recent sales
• Felix - recent sales
• Aurora Towers - recent sales
• Charlotte Towers and Festival Towers - recent sales
• Alex Perry Residential (the most popular blog post this month)
• Number of Listings

Sunshine Coast Auction

There was an auction last weekend of a large number apartments in the Crowne Plaza Resort near Caloundra, at Pelican Waters.  None sold.  See story from AFR:

"Heavy discounts, a year to settle and a $5000 rebate were not enough to entice buyers to a liquidation auction on the Sunshine Coast yesterday. Reed Property Group released the final 36 units in its 2005-built Crowne Plaza Resort & Spa in a Helmsman auction, where all units are offered simultaneously to boost interest.

Despite bids on 30 of the 36 units none was sold, although post auction talks continued later yesterday. Reed Property chief executive Ken Reed said the market was soft. “It’s a buyer’s market. Conditions on the Sunshine Coast are not too different from elsewhere in south-east Queensland,” he said.

An opening bid of $65,000 for an 88 square metre one-bedroom unit was the lowest offer made. One of the 512sq m penthouses attracted a maximum bid of $600,000 after it was listed for $1.58 million. Kings Beach residents Deborah and Jeff Taylor said the event was “a fizzier”. “The marker is so depressed at the moment. Things are selling for prices you wouldn’t believe. There are so many units on the market around here at the moment,” Mrs Taylor said.

The $65 million tower has access to a Greg Norman-designed championship golf course, pools, tennis courts and a gym."

 

Lot Entitlement Changes

After being approved by Queensland Parliament on the 6 April 2011, theBody Corporate and Community Management and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2010 received Royal Assent on 14 April 2011, meaning that the new legislation is now in force. The new legislation will introduce a number of matters including:

• New principles to be used when determining Contribution and Interest Schedule Lot Entitlements
• A process where owners, who have been affected by a Lot Entitlement change, can submit a motion to the Body Corporate Committee before the 14th April 2014 to revert back to the Lot Entitlement Schedule before the change was made
• Additional requirements for Disclosure Statements and rights of termination
• Introduction of a new "Two Lot Scheme" module to make management of these smaller schemes much less onerous for their owners