Talking Apartments

For literally decades property commentators and the media have debated the development of apartments in Australia’s capital cities. One thing we do know for certain is that apartment development has created a very valuable supply of housing providing choice for owners and tenants and with out it we would have a serious housing crises.

Apartment developments are constantly changing to meet the demand of the day or purchaser profile. In the last 1 or 2 years the buyers have moved from mostly foreign and domestic investors to mostly owner occupiers. The world of lending to develop and buy apartments has shifted dramatically as has the tax regime which may change further if there is a change of government in 2019.

John Meagher has been immersed in the apartment market for over 20 years and is founder and managing director of three sixty property group who specialise in the sale of off the plan apartments on Australia’s Easter sea board. Chatting to John he explains what the current purchaser is looking for in an apartment and how the type of apartment projects currently being planned and built has changed.

In essence the foreign investment buyer has been replaced by the local owner occupier buyer. This means the way apartments are designed, services they provide, finishes and appliances, options to reconfigure have all been stepped up as the buyer is going to be living in it and not renting it out. This means the next generation of apartments will be bigger and better but they will also be more expensive.

Like everything, the housing market needs to provide choice and diversity to enable the population to have the ability to change their accommodation needs in line with their life needs. Regardless if they wish to rent or own the diversity of housing choices is a very good thing and ensures people to change the cost and style of their accommodation as their life changes.

As John explains the last 20 years of apartment development has supplied exactly that and will continue to evolve with the market demands to provide people what they want.

For literally decades property commentators and the media have debated the development of apartments in Australia's capital cities. Usually the commentary ran along the lines of "there are too many being built", or "they are too small", or "they are creating an urban jungle".

One thing we do know for certain is that this development has created a very valuable supply of housing and with out it we would have a serious housing crises.

What's done is done but the future apartment developments have changed mainly to meet the changing demand or purchaser profile. In the last 1 or 2 years the buyers have moved from mostly foreign and domestic investors to mostly owner occupiers. The world of lending to develop and buy apartments has shifted dramatically as has the tax regime which may change further if there is a change of government in 2019.

John Meagher has been immersed in the apartment market for over 20 years and is founder and managing director of three sixty property groupwho specialise in the sale of off the plan apartments on Australia's Easter sea board. Chatting to John he explains what the current purchaser is looking for in an apartment and how the type of apartment projects currently being planned and built has changed.

In essence the foreign investment buyer has been replaced by the local owner occupier buyer. This means the way apartments are designed, services they provide, finishes and appliances, options to reconfigure have all been stepped up as the buyer is going to be living in it and not renting it out. This means the next generation of apartments will be bigger and better but they will also be more expensive.

Like everything, the housing market needs to provide choice and diversity to enable the population to have the ability to change their accommodation needs in line with their life needs. Regardless if they wish to rent or own the diversity of housing choices is a very good thing and ensures people to change the cost and style of their accommodation as their life changes.

As John explains the last 20 years of apartment development has supplied exactly that and will continue to evolve with the market demands to provide people what they want.

With the recent Royal Commission into financial institutions being felt by all new lenders, the role of valuers is also in the spotlight to see how they are interpreting the market slow down.

The valuation profession forms the bedrock of the property advisory profession and has done for ever.

The discipline of valuations methodology and logic enables valuers to make sense of any market conditions, property type, and valuation purpose.

Like all professions there are specialists and when I had the opportunity to talk to an apartment specialist valuer I had to jump at it.

Damian Kininmonth has been a valuer for over 30 years and is a Director with Preston Rowe Patterson who span every state in the country with 23 offices.

We sat down to chat about how valuers are navigating though the current apartment market and how he sees the outlook for apartments.

The valuations profession has formed the bedrock of the property industry for ever.

There is a rigor of valuations methodology and logic than enables valuers to make sense of any market conditions, property type, and purpose of valuation.

Like all professions there are specialists and when I had the opportunity to talk to an apartment specialist valuer I had to jump at it.

Damian Kininmonth has been a valuer for over 30 years and is a Director with Preston Rowe Patterson who span every state in the country with 23 offices.

We sat down to chat about how valuers are navigating though the current apartment market and how he sees the outlook for apartments.

What you don't see when you look at an apartment development is the highly technical and legal world of structures, agreements, contracts, and financials that not only make it happen but ensures it continues to deliver on many metrics for many years. There is a lot at stake financially as well as a development's performance for the ongoing stakeholders including the apartment purchasers, occupiers / tenants, owners corporation, leasing agents and the surrounding community who feel the impact of a new apartment development.

Brihony Boan is a Partner at Gadens Lawyers and is fully immersed in apartment developments from the very start to the very finish. She was super kind to carve our some of her very valuable time to tell us how it all happens and share some professional insights I wasn't expecting.

Get ready to come behind the curtain and into the world of off the plan sales. Here the Founder and CEO of Investorist Jon Ellis shares with me not only what he thinks is going on in the market but what his clients and customers think.

As we know when markets prices rise or fall it is usually as a result of how people feel and not economic logic. In fact I recently heard an economist say "Economists are often looking back to make sense of why something happened". So there is no better insight to a market than a sentiment survey to find out how the market is feeling... and this one is about off the plan property. (ie apartments sold before they are constructed)

Behind the consumer retail front of display suites and glossy advertising is a complex global network of property developers, agents and advisors who connect to promote, track and sell off the plan property. This network of industry heavyweights and major projects is brought together by an Australian company called Investorist who provide a business to business service spanning the globe.

So given sentiment drives markets Investorist recently thought they would ask their network of clients what they thought was happening in the world of off the plan development and sales.

You can get your own copy of the survey here or hear the key takeaways directly from Jon on this podcast.

There has been an enormous amount of press recently about the Brisbane Apartment market and where it is at.

It has been tough... no doubt about it... but if there is ever a sign of when it's a good time to buy, this just might be it. I am no expert on the Brisbane Apartment market but I know someone who is.

Like his company name says, Rohan Banning sells Amazing Apartments and he is the authority on the Brisbane Apartment market. It is so refreshing to talk to someone who not only knows their market intimately, but is prepared to call it as it is without any agent spin or dressing it up.

Rohan dissects the Brisbane apartment market by property and geography and shares his insights on what is going on in the Brisbane apartment market.

Enjoy...

Andrew