What has changed in 5 years in Brisbane's apartment market?
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Mar 17, 2016
What has changed in 5 years in Brisbane's apartment market?
Inner city hubs such as South Brisbane and West End have all the infrastructure to make high-density living attractive.
Do you ever look back over old photos and think “Oh no what was I doing?! Why didn’t anybody stop me?!” Well, imagine how Brisbane feels when it thinks back to what it was like in 2010. After the amount of change that this city has undergone over the past few years, it would absolutely kill it with a #transformationtuesday post on Instagram.
Let’s look at some of the facts. It’s amazing what a difference five years can make.
2010 vs 2015 – Past Five Years Comparison
In 2010, there were just 1,406 off the plan apartments sold across the city. 2015 saw 5,366 transactions. Five years ago, there were 43 apartment projects that were marketed in Inner Brisbane, but last year this number doubled to 86. In dollar value – 2010 saw $762 million worth of stock sold, whilst the 2015 figure was $3.2 billion. (In the December 2015 quarter alone there was $794 million worth of apartments sales) This is a massive change and it reflects a fundamental shift that is occurring in Brisbane – the city is maturing.
Today, people want to live in a Brisbane apartment. The infrastructure exists for apartment living to be truly enjoyable in Brisbane. Inner city parks, weekend markets, cafes, restaurants, bars, nightclubs, City Cycle, City Cat, busways, tunnels and train networks. These are the things that make life in the city enjoyable. These are what people want and need in today’s market.
Not to mention the well-appointed apartment that is in close proximity to all of this. This shifting environment means that more people actually want to own their apartment and live in it. This is something that Place Advisory has been predicting for a while now and the trend is already noticeable in the sales data. The weighted average sale price for 2015 was $595,000, which is $53,000 higher than in 2010.
One factor driving this change was a positive shift in the number of two bedroom apartments sold. In 2010, this apartment configuration accounted for just 39% of total sales, whilst in 2015 it was up to 56%. This reflects the changing demand for Brisbane apartments and is a trend that Place Advisory expects to continue.
