The Brisbane city skyline is currently under development, with a number of major architectural projects offering to improve the way the city looks and functions. As part of the major precinct overhaul, a number of large scale residential and resort developments are underway, including Architects Australia’s Belise residential complex.
While the economic input of such investments is promising to generate monetary gain and major job generation in the Brisbane area, however, there is a real concern that the apartment market could soon be flooded.
Earlier this year, the Property Observer raised questions over the necessity of investing so heavily in residential works in the Brisbane inner-CBD area. According to valuation firm LandMark White, a mix of low residential demand and high investment and development could leave QLD’s capital in a state of serious oversupply.
“This will see the inner-Brisbane apartment market continue to battle through one of the toughest phases in the property cycle in the last decade,” says the valuation firm.
Michael Matusik, director of independent property advisory Matusik Property Insights disagrees with these claims. He says that while the development plans may be abundant, their further development and realisation are simply not coming to fruition.
Belise
“At present, there is much public comment about a pending oversupply of new apartments across inner Brisbane,” he says. “However, while the city has lots of new apartments expected to be developed, the fact remains that not enough new developments are actually being built.”
Matusik states that while improvements have been planned in order to cater to conservative population growths, even these figures have not been met.
“Over the last five years, for example, 13,000 new dwellings were required to accommodate the population growth, yet – based on the official statistics – just 8,000 new dwellings were approved,” he says. “Last year, just 1,900 new dwellings were approved. At present there is a serious shortfall.”
Like a growing number of others in the building industry, Matusik not only downright refutes the apartment oversupply statement but is encouraging development such as Belise to fill present demand.
The duelling opinions may represent a disconnect between design and development stages in the Brisbane residential sector, something that promises to only grow in its discord if not dealt with.
