Sunday, March 17, 2013

Brisbane prices to draw in buyers - The Australian



BRISBANE'S median house price sits at $510,000 but just what does that get you?



How close can you buy to the Brisbane CBD, how many bedrooms will you get for your dollars and what sort of suburb can you buy in?


Brisbane's market has always been a bit more affordable than the southern capitals of Sydney and Melbourne, and while nationally there has been a softening in prices, that equation pretty much remains the same.


RP Data figures show there are 210 suburbs within the greater Brisbane area where the median house price is $510,000 or less.


Within a 10km radius of the Brisbane CBD there are 16 suburbs with a median house price at or below $510,000, including Carina, Kedron, Northgate and Stafford.


In Sydney there are none and in Melbourne there are four.


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Realestate.com.au currently has 343 houses listed for sale in greater Brisbane for between $500,000 and $550,000.


New listings this week for homes around the median house price include a house at Stafford, about 7km from the CBD. It has three bedrooms and is on a block with two-street frontage.


In the Sydney local government area there are no houses listed for between $500,000 and $550,000, and in Melbourne there are 16.


For $509,000 you can buy a one-bedroom apartment in Kent Street, Sydney, or pay $500,000-plus for a two-bedroom house at James Street, Abbotsford, in Melbourne, on about 138sq m of land.


In Brisbane, for offers over $499,000 you can buy a newly renovated, three-bedroom home at Northgate, on 582sq m of land.


In Kelso, in Townsville, the low $500,000s will get you a five-bedroom house on 1940sq m of land.


John McGrath of McGrath Real Estate says Brisbane is becoming an increasingly aspirational place to live and he believes the property market will continue to grow here.


"Buyers are taking advantage of great value in prime inner city suburbs,'' he says.


"Sub-$500,000 apartments and townhouses in Toowong, St Lucia and Paddington are popular, offering strong yields with low vacancy rates.''


Mr McGrath says investors from Sydney and Melbourne are attracted to the Brisbane market because it's seen as an affordable market and the lifestyle is appealing.


"Investors will be looking for affordability and capital gain,'' he says.


"I think a lot of the smart money has seen Brisbane as the growth market in Australia at the moment. There is almost no risk attached to it.''


Mr McGrath says when you compare what you can buy in Brisbane suburbs, including Hawthorne, Toowong and West End, with similar locations in Sydney you would pay 50 pert cent to 100 per cent more to live in the NSW capital.


"Areas like Surry Hills and Leichhardt in Sydney, which are comparable in many ways, you are paying $1 million plus for smaller homes.


"You look at Surry Hills, you would be lucky to get 200sq m of land for a decent townhouse, in Brisbane I think you will get double that.''


He says the global financial crisis has forced many people to re-evaluate their finances and lifestyle, and as a result more will start migrating to Brisbane, drawn by the property prices.


Things are a little more even in the unit market, with dozens of off-the-plan apartments for sale in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne at or around the Brisbane median of $369,000.


In Brisbane, these include units in the new Lend Lease RNA development The Green, with a starting price of $330,000.


While in Townsville it only takes $320,000 to buy a two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit in the CBD, in the High Point apartments which have views of the ocean and Magnetic Island.



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