Inner-city Brisbane apartments ‘should be avoided’
Despite many investors turning their attention to Queensland’s capital, an award-winning buyer’s agent has warned that buyers should be steering clear of the inner-city suburbs.
Simon Pressley, managing director of Propertyology and the Real Estate Institute of Queensland's and Real Estate Institute of Australia’s Buyer’s Agent of the Year, said in mid-2013 he started to observe an increase in buyer activity in Brisbane, spurring the city’s real estate recovery. Despite the positive signs, he said some investors were mistaken in thinking Brisbane was the best place to be parking their dollars at the moment.
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“While we don’t believe Brisbane is the number one location to invest in right now we do like Brisbane’s outlook and are investing there again,” Mr Pressley said.
The market, he said, should be approached with caution, with oversupply a looming issue.
“Over the past year, several new, multi-storey apartment complexes have settled around Brisbane [and] inner-city vacancy rates have increased to a more normal level of around three per cent as a result," said Mr Pressley.
“There is a significant level of new inner-city apartments in Brisbane’s pipeline. In our view, suburbs such as South Brisbane, West End, Fortitude Valley and Bowen Hills should be avoided by investors. Property consultants with vested interests will undoubtedly tell you differently.”
Mr Pressley said the balance between supply and demand in Brisbane’s apartment market should stabilise as more baby boomers look to downsize and consider apartment living.
