Buyers looking to take advantage of 6.6 per cent growth in Brisbane's inner fringe apartment market are demanding larger, home-style apartments from developers, as the population matures and adapts to residing in attached housing.

Over the past 15 years, Brisbane’s inner fringe (two to six kilometres from the CBD) has demonstrated stronger price growth of 6.6 per cent per annum, compared to 5.5 per cent in the CBD fringe.

With experience in planning, building and managing 600 apartments across 26 city fringe developments, Mosaic Property Group says the market has seen increasing demand for larger apartments with expansive floorplans and functional design elements. Substantial supply levels of smaller one and two bedroom apartments have recently entered, or are proposed to enter, the Brisbane inner city market in response to investor-focused market cycles.

To date, the market response to this trend has been logical, with investors capitalising on low interest rates and Brisbane’s relative affordability in comparison to southern states. As a result, very few developers have been accommodating demand for larger apartments in Brisbane, which now means that apartments with a functional design and larger floorplan are increasingly hard to come by. Mosaic’s next project release, Liberty by Mosaic, at Upper Mount Gravatt will deliver two bedroom, two bathroom apartments at an average size of 115m2 – 20 per cent larger than other projects currently being sold off the plan in the same location.

Another market driver contributing to a shift in apartment demand is the improved performance of Brisbane’s detached housing market, which achieved a median price growth of 7.2 per cent over the past 12 months.

The increase in Brisbane’s median house price will encourage Baby Boomers to access equity that exists in their principal place of residence, sell their family home and downsize to a more maintainable and functional apartment. In order to maximize demand from these buyers, it is important for apartments to provide larger living areas than those typically afforded by traditional investment apartments and enable enough space for Baby Boomers to accommodate their grandchildren or comfortably entertain their friends as required.

It may sound like common sense, but the ability to fit a dining room table, install a reasonable sized fridge and undertake laundry in a separate space are simple design elements that can impact people’s ability to live comfortably in an apartment. Delivering functional design elements in apartments also improves the likelihood to attain tenants within a shorter time frame and ultimately improve rental returns.