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Cairns Aquarium heralds tourism resurgence in north Queensland
NaN of
[img=620x0]http://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/g/k/w/0/3/i/image.related.afrArticleLead.620x350.gkvzhx.png/1447305637134.jpg[/img]An artist's impression of the $50 million Cairns Aquarium, which is due to open in early 2017.
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by Larry Schlesinger
Australia's tourism infrastructure boom has made it all the way to tropical north Queensland, with the construction of the $50 million Cairns Aquarium and Reef Research Centre officially under way.
The brainchild of Melbourne businessman Daniel Leipnik, who wanted to offer a Great Barrier Reef experience to tourists too scared to go into the water, the three-level ultra-modern aquarium is to open in January 2017 on a 4003-square-metre block in the heart of Cairns.
It will comprise 11 geographical zones representing the reef ecosystems, a restaurant and function centre and an aquaculture research and development centre.
Federal Trade Minister Andrew Robb, who will tour the aquarium site on Thursday to mark the start of the project, said tourism infrastructure was one of the government's national investment priorities.
Mr Robb said the aquarium was a great example of developing northern Australia.
"Adding to the stock of high-quality tourism infrastructure is fundamental if we are to continue to attract more than our share of international visitors," he said.
The latest figures from Tourism Research Australia show the long awaited recovery in north Queensland is under way as overnight stays have reached 9 million nights in 2014-15, the highest level in more than a decade, and Chinese visitor numbers have doubled in the last five years to 165,000 annually.
"Our far north Queensland region is in the process of springing back to life with a large list of projects, investments and proposals valued at more than $21.5 billion," Cairns Chamber of Commerce chief executive Deb Hancock said.
"The Cairns region is now officially in the 'growth' phase of the economic clock," Ms Hancock said.
She said a massive crane that would be on the aquarium site by December would be the first of many in the region.
Other projects in the pipeline include billionaire Tony Fung's $8.15 billion Aquis Great Barrier Reef Resort in Yorkeys Knob which is back on the table after the Hong Kong businessman recommitted to the project in September.
The projects under way include a $45 million adventure water park; the $200 million refurbishment and redevelopment of the Sheraton Mirage Resort in Port Douglas; a $23 million upgrade of the Tobruk Memorial Pool into an aquatic and leisure centre; and a $65 million Cairns Performing Arts Centre due for completion in early 2017.
Outside of tourism, Singapore's Aspial Corporation will soon begin work on the first of six residential towers as part of its $550 million NOVA development.
CBRE's managing director for Cairns, Danny Betros, said the aquarium was an important piece of tourism infrastructure for the region.
"Not everyone who comes to Cairns goes out to the reef and sometimes the weather is not that kind." he said.
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R&F Properties launches $400m apartments in Brisbane
NaN of
[img=620x0]http://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/g/k/x/r/f/0/image.related.afrArticleLead.620x350.gkxr1s.png/1447317449186.jpg[/img]R& F's $400m, Brisbane 1 apartment development in South Brisbane supplied
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by Matthew Cranston
Chinese listed R&F Properties has launched its first development in Australia with a $400 million apartment complex in South Brisbane to be called 'Brisbane 1'.
The Chinese group purchased the development site last year in a deal worth $46 million which represented about double the price which the previous owner David Devine's Metro Property Development paid a year earlier.
The development will feature more than 600 one, two and three bedroom apartments and a selection of retail amenities at its 1 Cordelia Street location.
R&F Properties deputy general manager Vincent Chen said the design met requirements for an increasing level demand to live in the South Brisbane area from local, interstate and international buyers.
"Brisbane continues its evolution towards New World City status and, as such, it was the natural choice for our first Australian project," he said.
"There is robust potential for population growth in Brisbane, particularly in established, popular suburbs such as South Brisbane."
The design has been inspired by nature and will feature an abundance of natural stone and wood finishes both inside and out.
Apartments are expected to start at $345,000 for a one-bedroom, $598,000 for a two-bedroom and $1,140,000 for a three bedroom.
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SALES BRING LAND RUSH
Jane Pinder
558 words
14 Nov 2015
Courier Mail
COUMAI
English
Prices are still steady, but major developers are bringing projects forward to meet rising buyer demand for new housing lots, writes Jane Pinder
THE demand for new housing lots on the Gold Coast has seen sold-out and fast-tracked releases from major developers.
According to State Government figures, new lot sales in the year to March were the highest they have been in five years.
In the past two years there was a 138 per cent increase in the sales of new lots on the Gold Coast, from 760 to more than 1800, although sales were a long way from the record of 3825 in 2007.
Over the same two-year period there was a 17 per cent drop in the total stocks of residential lots ready with development approval, from more than 10,000 to about 8300.
The quarterly Master Builders Survey of Industry Conditions found more than half the respondents from the Gold Coast cited the lack of land availability as a problem, although the median price for vacant land has held steady at about $230,000.
On the ground, major developers Stockland, AVJennings and QM Properties have seen the demand materialise into sold-out and fast-tracked new land releases.
Stockland’s Ormeau Ridge, Highland Reserve at Upper Coomera and Riverstone Crossing have brought land releases forward more than six months ahead of schedule in some cases.
The three communities represent a total of more than 2800 home sites once complete.
At Ormeau Ridge, Stockland has brought forward two stages that were planned for release next financial year to accommodate the demand for home sites. The community, launched in 2010, has seen 16 new families moving in each month.
Stockland regional manager David Laner said the increasing demand was a result of improving affordability as interest rates remained low and southeast Queensland price growth continued to lag behind southern states.
“Buyers are also focusing on all the extra services and infrastructure coming to the northern (Gold Coast) growth corridor,” he said.
AVJennings has found home sites are achieving some of the fastest sales rates of any property type on the Gold Coast, with the developer selling out of two major land releases within days of their launch.
Contracts were taken on all 45 home sites in the recent Taurus and Capella releases at its Big Sky community in Coomera, for a total of almost $11 million, prompting the early release of another 40 lots to the market.
AVJennings Queensland general manager Rod Chadwick said there was an increasing shortage of land available across the city, when compared with established homes and apartments, so buyers were starting to pre-register for lots.
“There’s fierce competition among buyers to secure new land, because there are plenty of young couples and families on the Gold Coast who want to build their own home and realise that they need to act quickly so they don’t miss out on their preferred block,” he said.
QM Properties sales manager Damien Ross said stage one of Pacific Cove community was close to sold out.
“We released Pacific Cove on July 31 and have since sold 60 allotments,” he said.When complete, the estate will feature 500 home sites, plus duplex and townhouse sites, and a display village due to open in 2016.
News Ltd.
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Supersized Demand
Phil Bartsch
378 words
13 Nov 2015
Courier Mail
COUMAI
English
THE big end of Brisbane’s industrial market is continuing to gain momentum with a growing number of supersized warehouses under construction.
Industrial developers have been ramping up activity with a swag of sizeable developments – including speculatively built projects.
“We’re certainly seeing a good deal of activity,” CBRE’s Sam Higgins said. “It has ramped up in the back half of this year and a lot of the major development groups are producing prime industrial facilities.
“The fact they are building some of these expansive facilities without precommitments is a real sign of confidence in the market.
“A lot of the larger institutional players want to hold assets in southeast Queensland because of the future growth.
“But some of them also are positioning themselves to take advantage of the capital that is foreshadowed to be coming into Australia from offshore.” Two of the bigger industrial developments are a 23,100sq m facility being developed by Dexus at Larapinta and Frasers Property’s planned 15,000sq m project at Berrinba in Logan.
Goodman is one of Brisbane’s most active industrial developers with precommitments to DB Schenker, Northline and Silk Logistics.
It is also involved in the development of estates under construction at Lytton, Redbank and Rochedale.
Mr Higgins said demand from large industrial users had been solid across 2014-15.
Among the tenants with big requirements is Schweppes Australia which is looking for a 32,000sq m distribution centre in Brisbane’s southern corridor.
In a recent deal, a distribution facility at 338 Bradman St, Acacia Ridge, is believed to have been leased to supermarket giant Woolworths. Mr Higgins and CBRE colleague Peter Turnbull, who negotiated the deal on behalf of Goodman, declined to comment on the transaction details.
But industry sources indicated the property – comprising two warehouses with a combined 31,539sq m – would have fetched $105-$115sq m net. Mr Turnbull said the Bradman St site offered a multitude of docks on both the northern and eastern sides of the warehouse.
“It was one of three properties considered, which had characteristics the tenant sought,” he said.“And while the other facilities were built more recently, the Bradman St facility incorporated 18 docks – 65 per cent more than the other alternatives.”
News Ltd.
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Brisbane apartment boom just beginning for owner occupiers
John Li is adamant Brisbane's apartment boom is just beginning. He has launched a $70 million apartment tower and received 200 inquiries without any advertising.
[img=620x0]http://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/g/l/1/x/6/x/image.related.afrArticleLead.620x350.gl1nzf.png/1447828577312.jpg[/img]Ideal Property's John Li says the Banc apartment towers have had almost 200 enquiries already.
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by Matthew Cranston
John Li is adamant Brisbane's apartment boom is just beginning.
His company Ideal Property has launched a $70 million apartment development called "Banc", which overlooks the Brisbane River in the suburb of Toowong near the famous Regatta Hotel.
Before he appointed marketing agents to the project – and the marketing budgets can run into millions of dollars – he placed a large sign on the busy Coronation Drive site where the 15-storey luxury apartment tower is to be built.
"We didn't even put a phone number on the sign, it was just the website and logos and we have had almost 200 enquiries.
"The demand is still very strong," he said.
The tower is one of half a dozen high-rise apartment developments going up in Toowong where cranes are filling the skies and adding to the 13,670 apartments under construction in inner Brisbane.
However, Mr Li is confident that his 33 boutique apartments directed solely at the owner-occupier market will sell better than apartments directed at investors.
"The owner-occupier market is not like investors. It has only just begun."
Marketing agent for Banc, Peter Hutton, said the apartments, which range from $899,000 to about $6 million for the grand 455 sq m five-bedroom "sky mansion", have been made bigger to accommodate a growing demand trend for more space.
"Bigger apartments are back in vogue – not just in Brisbane but globally," he said, "There are more large condominiums selling in New York now than there were just a couple of years ago, so the property pendulum is clearly swinging in favour of more spacious abodes."
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Property investors head to the Gold Coast
[Image: 1447888838526.jpg]Krishnan Shanker is a property investor who is looking at the Gold Coast for better value properties. Daniel Munoz
Cashed up Sydney home owners are pouncing on Gold Coast properties, tapping the equity from several years of growth and repatriating it further north where they can see better value and prospects over the long term.
Investor Krishnan Shanker, a 53-year-old senior manager at Primary Healthcare who has properties in Melbourne and Sydney, is one of many investors looking at the Gold Coast as prices skyrocketed in the south eastern states.
"Melbourne and Sydney in the last 18 months have really taken off," Mr Shanker said. "The rental yield has really come down [in Melbourne and Sydney] and I always like to have margin of safety when I buy."
As an overhang of Gold Coast stock is cleared out, the return of southern investors has coincided with the early signs of an economic recovery giving prices an additional fillip.
Investors like Mr Shanker are attracted to freestanding homes exhibiting the 'holy trinity' of property metrics – lower prices, low vacancy rates and yields of up to 5.5 per cent.
Nicole Marsh from Eureka Property Buyers Agents said that her business had become increasingly skewed toward investors from Sydney who had ridden the boom and were looking to buy with an eye to retirement.
"Sydney buyers are out number Melbourne buyers by at least three to one. The value for money here is extremely obvious to them" she said.
NINE OF QLD'S TOP-10 SUBURBS ARE IN THE GOLD COAST
A survey to be published in Financial Review Smart Investor on Friday found that nine of the top ten performing suburbs in Queensland were from the Gold Coast as investors looked to capitalise on gains made elsewhere and diversify.
The move north to warmer climates is hardly a new phenomenon. Interstate migration among the older demographic is almost a cliché. But this time the profile of buyers is different.
Sun Realty principal Tony Baily said that the new wave of buyers was not ready to retire. They were typically in their early 50s, still employed, had considerable discretionary income and were impressed with the variety of properties available.
"They can buy size, they can buy pleasant outlooks, they can buy new or old," he said.
The Professionals principal Mike Carter said that with median prices on the Gold Coast approximately half that of Sydney's the attraction to investors was obvious.
"Buyers are comparing the Gold Coast to Melbourne and Sydney and saying 'Hooley Dooley!'" he said.
Oasis Property Buyers founder Gavin McPherson said that median price gap between Sydney and the Gold Coast had blown out since 2007 however he cautioned investors from indiscriminate buying.
"The major metropolitan cities are unaffordable. There is a significant price discrepancy and the Gold Coast is simply too cheap to ignore. But that doesn't give them a license to buy anywhere" he said.
McPherson said that suburbs west of the Gold Coast highway were not investment grade and that his clients were focusing on low rise areas spanning from Mermaid Beach to Main Beach.
In Mr Shanker's case, diversifying his portfolio was another key driver.
"One reason is I wanted to diversify, I didn't want everything to be in one place," he said.
"I also thought Queensland offers growth particularly because of the good weather," he said.
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Gold Coast residential sales and values steady
Jessica Grewal
[Image: jessica_grewal.png]
Business & Regional Affairs reporter
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Analyst Michael Matusik believes the Gold Coast will be stable at least until 2018 Commonwealth Games. Picture: Jerad Williams. Source: News Corp Australia
[b]A loss of investors from the Gold Coast’s property market in the wake of home loan rate rises is so far having little impact on residential sales and values.[/b]
Higher mortgage rates and compulsory 20 per cent deposits were always going to test the true strength of one of the country’s fastest improving markets, but property analyst Michael Matusik believes strong demand from locals and undeterred Sydney buyers will shelter the region from unfavourable investor conditions right through to the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
The Brisbane-based commentator told The Weekend Australian that while the coast was not immune to investor reluctance, the market was still in a “recovery phase”, which last year saw the most welcome improvements since the global financial crisis and was transitioning into an upswing he predicted would continue for at least another two years.
The median house price on the Gold Coast has risen from $410,000 to $435,000 since 2012.
About 80 per cent of resale homes are being sold to long-term locals whereas interstate and country Queensland buyers are taking out between 50-60 per cent of new dwellings.
It was still easy, Mr Matusik said, to pitch the Gold Coast to buyers in areas like western Sydney with the line “this is how much a two-bedroom home within walking distance to the beach will cost you — what can you buy anywhere in Sydney for that?” and to push the seaside dream to buyers from inland Queensland who had decided “I’ll buy now and in four to five years I can move there and go to the beach every day”.
Mr Matusik said that while the market was improving, projections of a 10 per cent price rise over the next 12 months was ambitious and between 6-8 per cent was more likely. “Things were bad for so long that everyone is making up for lost time,” Mr Matusik said.
“I believe it’s getting overheated — that usually happens when a market first recovers, it overshoots and then corrects itself.”
The Gold Coast is also enjoying above average employment and wage growth compared to the rest of Queensland. However, a wave of new apartment projects has also been mooted, which would boost supply.
Andrew Bell, owner of the Ray White Surfers Paradise group, said a sudden halt in Chinese investment and mortgage rate rises had effectively “locked out” about 40 per cent of investors from the Gold Coast market, but renewed demand from local buyers was filling the gap.
He said a steady migration of families who had been priced out of southern markets was fuelling competition in the sub-million- dollar price bracket and encouraging a growing number of locals to blow the budget on permanent housing before prices rose too high.
“Prices are going up steadily but the pleasing aspect is there is no craziness about it all … we’re not reading stories about skyrocketing prices … it’s sensible growth which I believe will be better for the market in the long term.”
Mr Bell said the slump in China’s stockmarket had translated into a noted decrease in inquiry. But he said his business partners in China were finding there was “no lack of interest” and buyers agents were waiting for the outcome of the FTA before they made their next move.
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- Nov 23 2015 at 5:26 PM
- Updated Nov 23 2015 at 5:53 PM
Gold Coast back sell apartments like hotcakes
[img=620x0]http://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/g/l/1/7/4/l/image.related.afrArticleLead.620x350.gl5hac.png/1448261639349.jpg[/img]The Gold Coast is once again attracting off-the- plan buyers and developers supplied
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by Matthew Cranston
Australia's glitter strip the Gold Coast is regaining its old mojo with hundreds of new apartment sales set to take total turnover this year well past that of 2014.
The latest sales analysis from Urbis shows that sales in the September quarter increased by 253 compared to the corresponding quarter in 2014 – an increase of more than 150 per cent.
"The Gold Coast apartment market is continuing to break records in 2015 with sales in the first three quarters combined of 1041, overtaking the total yearly sales for 2014 of 825," Urbis senior consultant Lynda Campbell said.
She said another 22 projects were expected to be launched during the next six months.
"This would bring another 2165 new apartments to the market and keep the delicate balance between supply and demand," she said.
The Gold Coast kicked back into action late 2014 when Chinese billionaire Wang Jianlin purchased through his company Wanda a residential development site in Broadbeach for the $1 billion Jewel apartment and hotel project. The first stage of apartments have been launched during the September quarter.
Since Wanda's Gold Coast development site more than $600 million worth of sites have sold to Asian-backed buyers. However several domestic developers are racing to build high-rise apartment towers as well.
Queensland developer Citimark, founded by Angus Johnson, has $1 billion worth of apartments planned for the Gold Coast. Westpac's St George bank is backing him.
Sydney based developer Ralan Group, run by William O'Dwyer, is planning hundreds of apartments at Surfers Paradise while the Sydney-based Winten Property Group, founded by Garry Rothwell, has just bought a development site at Main Beach for $10.3 million with the intention of building a 30-storey apartment tower.
Other developers such as Sunland, Harry Triguboff's Meriton and local identity Jim Raptis are all at various stages of the residential development process on the Gold Coast.
Ms Campbell said that as apartment prices in capital cities became less affordable, the Gold Coast had attracted a greater share of the investor market.
Overall Gold Coast median apartment prices as of June this year, including new and existing apartments, was $360,000. In Sydney it is $650,000 and in Melbourne it is $470,000.
McGrath Real Estate associate director for projects Christopher Jones said there was strong Chinese interest in the Gold Coast market.
"The biggest buyers have been offshore Chinese and and Sydney-based Chinese with permanent residency."
"The main reason they are buying is because the average square metre price is $4300 a square metre on the Gold Coast but in Sydney its $15,000 a square metre to $20,000 a square metre."
"I think there are some long legs in this market but it is getting very competitive."
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Has Brisbane reached 'peak apartment'?
[img=620x0]http://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/g/l/1/q/o/l/image.related.afrArticleLead.620x350.gl15en.png/1448429261903.jpg[/img]Brisbane's apartment boom is in full swing, but there are fears of an oversupply. Glenn Hunt
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by Mark Ludlow
A record 13,000 apartments being built and a further 15,000 in the pipeline suggest Brisbane's apartment boom may be close to a peaking, property experts say.
Cranes still dominate the city's skyline but a glut of inner-city apartments over the next few years may force southern property investors to look elsewhere for decent investment returns.
Brisbane still has a significant price advantage over Sydney and Melbourne but a backlog of 15,000 to 16,000 planned apartments could result in a major oversupply on the market and push rents down, experts say.
Property consultants Urbis found there were 13,670 apartments under construction in the second quarter of this year, compared with 11,189 in the first quarter – an increase of 22 per cent or 2481 apartments.
Urbis economics and market research director Mal Aikman said construction of inner-city apartments had reached record levels. Apartment sales reached their highest ever level of 2277 in the June quarter.
"Inner Brisbane is entering its highest ever level of new residential construction," he said. "Construction activity can still lag by 18 to 24 months, so with a sales peak in June we still have 18 to 24 months of very heavy construction activity to come."
The boom – even if most apartments have been sold before construction – raises the issue of who will live in them.
Inner-city living is still a bit of a novelty for a lot of Brisbane residents, who grew up in suburban sprawl, but with two or three bedroom homes still affordable within 10 kilometres of the central business district it may not be enough to force them to sell up for apartment living.
"That still has to play out," Mr Aikman said. "With record sales and record construction, this is an unknown element for a place like Brisbane about who is going to occupy all these apartments.
"I think there will be an element of price competition in rents and it will be interesting to see whether others come into the market who previously haven't done so before."
INNER-CITY SLUMS
Brisbane City Council is offering big discounts on infrastructure charges for developers to build student accommodation in and around the CBD for an influx of foreign students, with fears of inner-city "slums" that could hurt property values.
CoreLogic RP Data senior research analyst Cameron Kusher said fears of Brisbane's peaking apartment market were justified.
He said there were more than 18,300 units approved for construction in Brisbane in the 12 months to September – an increase of almost 50 per cent.
"We've seen a massive surge in apartments for the past few years and there are now more high-rises than we've ever seen before," Mr Kusher said.
"But probably what the concern is now is who is exactly going to buy them? Rental growth in Brisbane is pretty non-existent at the moment and you've got all this extra supply coming on."
Brisbane apartments remain a good value proposition for southern investors, compared with Sydney and Melbourne, according to CoreLogic RP Data.
The median price for Brisbane units is $398,000, well below Sydney's $675,000 and Melbourne's $500,000.
Urbis said the median apartment value in the Brisbane local government area was closer to $430,000 – and even higher for brand new apartments – but still much lower than southern capitals. The gap is unlikely to be bridged any time soon, according to Mr Aikman.
Brisbane's gross rental yield in October was 5.3 per cent, compared with 4.1 per cent in Sydney and Melbourne.
With a wave of new apartments coming onto the Brisbane market, Mr Kusher predicts rents will fall next year.
"We wouldn't be surprised to see rents falls in the next 12 months. There are major concerns about how many apartments are being built in Brisbane," he said.
"The next problem will be settlement risk. Some of these people probably went to their bank two or three years ago to borrow money and now it's coming up for settlement and they haven't seen the capital growth or rent they thought they were going to get. And they may have to stump up more cash to get the finance."
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