Place report reveals rapid growth in Brisbane market

A new report has revealed just how far Brisbane’s multi-billion-dollar new apartment sector has come in just five years.Place Projects’ Annual Wrap Up of the inner city unit market looks back to 2010 to compare the number of sales, projects under construction, apartments released to the market and prices paid with those during a record-breaking 2015.Place Advisory director Lachlan Walker said the Brisbane skyline was quite different five years ago with just 18 projects under construction in the inner city compared with the 68 underway in 2015.“It was the year that off-the-plan sales started translating into construction and development,” he said.“Brisbane is under construction, anyone driving through the Valley, Newstead or South Brisbane and Woolloongabba can see that.”Mr Walker said another factor in the construction surge was Brisbane’s new town plan.“It unlocked previously undevelopable land across Brisbane,” he said.“Areas such as Coorparoo and parts of East Brisbane for example are seeing height and density never before delivered.”On the sales front, 2015 was a record maker in terms of volume with 5,366 new apartments sold unconditionally for an unprecedented $3.2 billion.It left 2010 in the shade with just over 1400 units selling for a total of $762 million.Price growth during the period has been more subdued but still respectable with 2010 buyers paying an average $542,000 compared with $595,000 in 2015.Mr Walker said one factor driving prices was a recent positive shift in the number of transactions for two-bedroom apartments.It was the dominant unit configuration sold in 2015 accounting for 56 per cent of the market, compared with 39 per cent in 2010.“The most substantial shift in demand has been from one-bedroom purchasers to many more two and three-bedroom transactions,” Mr Walker said.“This suggests that although there are now 68 various cranes in the air across Brisbane, the end product will not be the same.“There will be something delivered for each of the varying purchasers and profiles of end-users entering the residential apartment market.”The upsizing of apartment projects is also evident since 2010 when just over 1300 units across 26 developments were released to the market.Last year, almost 4400 apartments across 26 projects entered the sales arena.The number of projects being marketed more than doubled from 43 to 86 across the five years.Mr Walker said while 2015 was a record breaking year in terms of volume and value, he expected 2016 to be more challenging due to rising construction costs.