Real Estate institute of Queensland President and Bees Nees City Realty head Rob Honeycombe:said rampaging demand was absorbing current construction, but the large development pipeline was a concern.
“People are wanting to move to these suburbs in huge numbers … for those of us on the ground the gaining momentum is obvious,” he said. “But rents are already softening. Vacancies are growing. And when you consider our Cordelia Street example (set to rise from 481 apartments to just under 3000 in a little over two years) for landlords at least, the toughest times are still to come.”
Many buyers though, were blissfully happy with their South Brisbane peninsula purchase including Allie Gilfedder, who bought into Silverstone Developments’ Sassari Apartments in West End.
Her $400,000 apartment settled in August last year in an area where the median price was over $900,000, and she’s beating the odds as an owner-occupier.
“I love it, I couldn’t be happier,” she said of the activity in the area. “That’s kind of the whole reason why I decided to buy there, for the vibe and the development that’s going in. I’m not put off in the least, not in that particular area.”
She said children were “not on my radar” in terms of good schools in the area, but the restaurants and river were big pluses.
“Personally I’ve always loved West End. I used to live in Highgate Hill and getting into the location was big for me.
“The bigger picture plan for me is to turn my property into an investment. I worked with my financial adviser who provided forecasts of West End’s future capital growth and rental yields, and that was a big part of why I decided to buy off the plan 18 months ago.”
