Introduction

Even though the vacancy rate is increasing in Brisbane, many of the good apartments for rent are hard to find. Often, this is because the existing tenant does not leave, and when they do become available, are snapped up quickly. For the better buildings, a large percentage of the apartments are occupied by the owner, and so are not rented out. Also, onsite managers often control the rental rolls, and don't often advertise on the usual property websites (as they don't need to do so). Some have their own website. Also, onsite managers may have a relationship with executive relocation services, that are fed the better apartments.

At one time, a good specialist website for apartments was http://www.seqrents.com.au However, it seems that some buildings are not using this site anymore, or are not bothering to update their listing on this site. So, although useful, it is less useful.

The largest number of listings are located on RealEstate.com.au, but a number of onsite managers do not use this website.

You have to find out how each manager advertises his/her vacancy.

Generally, you want to avoid any buildings managed by Oaks, as they focus on short term hotel style rentals.

Inner City Brisbane:

I recommend Arbour on Grey at SouthBank: http://arbour.com.au/cms/welcome.html

Also, Saville at SouthBank is one of the nicest buildings if you get a river facing apartment: http://www.seqrents.com.au/saville/index.htm. The best thing to do here is call, because the website is not updated regularly. Telephone 07 3305 2559

If you want to live downtown, then I recommend the Admiralty Precinct. This comprises three first-tier buildings (Admiralty One, Admiralty Two and Admiralty Quays), plus River Place (good location, not as good quality) and Skyline (second tier).

Admiralty One is good value, and has some of the largest two bedroom apartments in Brisbane - http://www.admiraltyone.com.au/

Admiralty Two also has good sized apartments, and the building has great facilities. http://www.admiraltytwo.com.au/

Admiralty Quays is newer, and has a great pool, but the apartments are smaller. and it is more expensive. http://www.admiraltyquays.com/

Nearby on the river in the city is River Place, that is not as good quality, but is likely to have availability as this is a large complex. Careful of Storey Bridge noise. Great views.

On Alice Street in the city, if you can get an apartment in Quay West, that is fantastic, as it has park and river views -- for long term rentals, the best agent to try is Blockside & Fergerson for this building. Half of this building is a hotel managed, so it is easy to get short term accommodation in Quay West. All apartments are privately owned. You want to get above level 7.

For an inner city downtown building, Metro 21 is one of the better quality buildings. It has only 4 apartments per floor -- and tries to be more upmarket so is better than most buildings that aim at students -- it seems to have better availability, and some of the two bedroom apartments have three bathrooms. The baloneys are large: http://www.realestate.com.au/realestate/agent/metro+21+brisbane/mlibri
and http://www.metro21apartments.com.au/

Apartments in Suburbs

The suburbs that I recommend, due to location, transport and large number of better quality apartments, are Toowong, St Lucia, Taringa, Indooroopilly and possibly Milton and Hamilton. I don't recommend Chermside.

The newest complex in the Toowong / Taringa area is Fresh. This complex has two pools, a gym and great gardens. http://www.realestate.com.au/realestate/agent/acorn+realty+taringa/nrqhzu

Next door to Fresh is Encore, which is a relatively nice complex, with good pricing (but not as nice as Fresh, and some of the apartments are small). http://www.seqrents.com.au/encore/

St Lucia is harder to find quality -- there are few onsite managers. So you have to try local real estate agents, such as Ray White (who also has listings in Fresh).

In Indooroopilly, there has been recent construction, so there are a number of new, quality buildings. My two picks are Riva and Ciana.

Riva has apartments with great river views. It is a quiet building, with a pool, and is close to the train station and Indooroopilly Shopping Centre http://www.seqrents.com.au/riva/

Ciana is a larger new complex, in a central location, with many large apartments. There is a pool and gym, plus a bowls club! http://www.ciana.com.au/

If you want an apartment complex that feels more suburban, then Parklands at Sherwood is a great choice. Many apartments have park/rural views, and there is a great pool and bbq area http://www.centralsherwood.com.au/.

Nearby is Tennyson Reach, where you can get a large new apartment on the river. This is a new complex, but (apart from river views) not a great location.

Also, look at the posts and links on this blog.  This website has a list of most city apartment buildings, with useful information and links about them. Also, try this customized search engine.

This is a list by a selling agent about various inner city buildings:
http://www.openhouserealty.com.au/html/residential/21/apartment-buildings

The Brisbane Convention Centre is upgrading and rebuilding on Grey Street at South Bank.

See this video.

This can only improve the values of apartments in South Bank.

New Buildings - Furnished

1 bed, no car - M on Mary - $500 per week
2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - Evolution - $900 per week
2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - Skyline - $1,300 per week
3 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - Skyline - $900 per week
3 bed, 2 bath, 3 cars - Riparian - $2200 per week

Other Buildings - Furnished

2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - Admiralty Towers - $680 per week
2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - Saville South Bank - $740 per week

New Buildings - Unfurnished

2 bed, 1 bath, 1 car - Evolution - $650 per week
2 bed, 2 bath, no car - Aurora - $660 per week
3 bed, 2 bath, 2 car - Skyline - $1500 per week
3 bed, 2 bath, 3 car - Riparian - $1850 per week

Other Buildings - Unfurnished

2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car - Admiralty Two - $580 per week
2 bed, 3 bath, 1 car - Metro 21 - $575 per week

The street scape at Grey Street at South Bank will greatly improved with the proposed development of Stage Two of the Brisbane Convention Centre. The development will be over the rail line, and will front Grey Street, next to Rydges Hotel. It will improve the street when walking from the Cultural Centre and Museums along Grey Street to the Saville Hotel area.

See South Bank Newsletter.

Grey Street

** Updated post click here **

It is becoming harder to find a good apartment to rent in Brisbane. Not only are rents increasing, but there are few new buildings opening over the next few years and a number of existing buildings are being turned into short stay "hotels".

Good apartments are often snapped up quickly. Also, onsite managers control the majority of apartments for rent in most buildings, and don't often advertise on the usual property websites (as they don't need to do so). Some have their own website. Onsite managers may have a relationship with executive relocation services that are given preference.

You have to find out how each manager advertises his/her vacancy.

If you are looking for a place to rent a good inner city apartment, I believe that this is one of the better sites to look at: http://www.seqrents.com.au

This website has a list of most city apartment buildings, with useful information and links about them. Also, try this customized search engine.

You want to avoid any buildings that are primarily short stay buildings (unless of course you want to stay for 2 nights to 2 months.) So avoid buildings managed by Oaks, as they focus on short term hotel style rentals. Look here if you want a short stay apartment in Brisbane.

There are some cross-over buildings, that are officially hotels but that have apartments on higher floors. Usually, the apartments in these buildings have the option of receiving hotel services. Two examples are Quay West and Saville South Bank, which are good places to live.

Look around -- the rents for some of the newer buildings are much higher, and the apartments are smaller, than in buildings that are five to ten years old.

Some places to look:

In the downtown area:

Admiralty One, is good value: http://www.seqrents.com.au/admiralty/

Admiralty Quays and Admiralty Two are also good quality. At present, I think some of the best value apartments for rent are in Admiralty Two.

Admiralty One (also called Admiralty Towers), Admiralty Two and Admiralty Quays were all developed by the same developer and are direct river front, an easy walk to the downtown. They all have one or more swimming pools.

Next door to Admiralty Quays on the river in the city is River Place, that is clearly not as good quality (it is a Devine built building), but is likely to have availability as this is a large complex. Careful of Storey Bridge noise. Great views. Recently taken over by Mint Apartments, which is doing short stay and hotel rentals.

For an inner city downtown building, Metro 21 is one of the better quality buildings. It has only 4 apartments per floor -- and tries to be more upmarket so is better than most buildings that aim at students -- it seems to have better availability, and some of the two bedroom apartments have three bathrooms. It does not do short stay. The balconies are large: http://www.realestate.com.au/realestate/agent/metro+21+brisbane/mlibri
and http://www.metro21apartments.com.au/

On Alice Street in the city, if you can get an apartment in Quay West, that is fantastic, as it has park and river views. Half of this building is a hotel managed by Mirvac. All apartments are privately owned. You want to get above level 7.

It is also worth trying some of the off-site agents:

• Harcourt
• Ray White CBD
• Ray White Projects
• Blocksidge
  

In my opinion, some of the buildings to avoid (see prior posts) are

• 212 Margaret
• Festival Towers
• Charlotte Towers
  
• Aurora
• River City
• Felix
• Casino Towers
  

I recommend Arbour on Grey at SouthBank: http://arbour.com.au/cms/welcome.html

Also, Saville at SouthBank is one of the nicest buildings if you get a river facing apartment: http://www.seqrents.com.au/saville/index.htm

I know people at LeftBank at West End who like living there, but it is a little bit far to walk to any shops -- it is in an industrial area: http://www.seqrents.com.au/leftbank/

In the back of Toowong, Encore is a relatively nice complex, with good pricing (but currently construction next door, so take care of which apartment). http://www.seqrents.com.au/encore/

St Lucia is harder to find quality -- the quality is there, it is just that there are few onsite managers and it is harder work to find good available apartments.

In Indooroopilly, Riva is the only quality building -- again, some noise in some apartments due to nearby construction. Some have river views. http://www.seqrents.com.au/riva/

My theory is that if a building has too many apartments for sale at any one time, this negatively impacts the value of the apartments.  First, it shows high turnover (which could mean dissatisfaction.  Second, it drives the price down -- as purchasers can play each seller off.  On the other hand, scarcity drives values higher.

I have tried to work out how many apartments are for sale in certain buildings as at today, looking at various sources, and this what I conclude.   I did not count anything reported to be under contract. The details are probably inaccurate, but the overall picture is probably about right:

Brisbane City

• Admiralty Towers One - 0
• Admiralty Quays - 1
  
• Admiralty Towers Two - 2
• Quay West - 2
• Metro 21 - 4
  
• River Place - 5
  
• Felix - 6
  
• Casino Towers - 8
• Skyline - at least 26 (plus more than 20 apartments that the developer has not yet sold)
• Festival Towers - 32
• Charlotte Towers - at least 40
  
• Aurora - 41
• M on Mary - more than 100

• Saville South Bank - 0
• Arbour on Grey - 2

Tim Lawless from RP Data recently reported:

The jump in new residential property listings is highest in Queensland, where the number of new listings over the last four weeks is up 38% over last year’s figures. ... The number of new listings over the last four weeks in Brisbane has increased by 62% over the same period last year.

Such strong figures can be viewed in two ways: market sentiment remains high and vendors are confident in market conditions, or conversely vendors are pushing more properties into the market now for fear of conditions deteriorating later in the year.

In all likelihood, the latter may be true, with home owners becoming jittery about future market conditions. The Reserve Bank has been clear in their warnings of further rate rises and there seems to be a consensus amongst experts that growth in property values will begin to slow during 2008.

Once Just a Stopover, an Australian City Grows Up

By JULIE EARLE-LEVINE

ONCE just a stopover for tourists en route to either the Great Barrier Reef or the beaches on the Sunshine and Gold Coasts, the eastern Australian city of Brisbane has emerged as an alluring destination in its own right.

WHERE TO STAY

The Emporium Hotel (61-73-253-6999; 1000 Ann Street, Fortitude Valley, www.emporiumhotel.com.au) has doubles from 295 Australian dollars.

The recently opened Saville South Bank hotel (61-73-305-2500, 161 Grey Street, South Bank; www.savillehotelgroup.com) is a short walk to the Queensland Performing Arts Complex, the State Art Gallery and museums. Studio apartments with kitchenettes from 398 Australian dollars.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/travel/4next.html
or
http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/australia-and-pacific/australia/brisbane/overview.html

I am often asked which apartment buildings are good for short term stays.  That is, which apartments in Brisbane downtown and nearby are furnished, safe and have good facilities.

These are my recommendations, in this order:

1.   Quay West, on Alice Street overlooking the Botanical Gardens.

Consistently rated as the number one hotel in Brisbane on TripAdvisor.
One and two bedroom suites, with daily service and room service.  Pool, gym, restaurant.  Large balcony.  Great location and great views from all suites.  The one bedroom suites have kitchen, large living area with desk, laundry room, bathroom and large bedroom.  Two modern flat screen TVs.  The nicest pool in Brisbane.  Operated by Mirvac.
Book here or at http://www.mirvachotels.com.au/

2.   Felix Apartments on Felix Street at Eagle Street.

An apartment building that Oaks has turned into a short term stay building.  Good location, and most rooms have river views.  Pool.  Partly air conditioned (not central air conditioning).  No room service.  No hotel facilities.  Good clientèle.  Weekly clean.
Book here or book here.

3.  Saville Hotel at SouthBank

Only 18 months old, one of the newest hotels in Brisbane.  Great location, just out of the downtown, but with many good restaurants nearby.  A full service modern hotel.  Pool and gym.  Room service.
Book here or book here.

4.   Oaks - 212 Margaret Street

This was once a good place to stay, but now has a large construction site next door.  No services.
Book here.

5.   Oxygen Apartments, at Spring Hill

This is a favourite place for IT workers.  Small apartments, just out of the city.  No services.
Book here.

...

The best hotel, for a standard hotel room, is Stamford Plaza.  Book here.

Auctions:

• Festival Towers, Apartment 3109 - did not sell at auction - highest bidder $440,000
• Charlotte Towers, Apartment 507 - did not sell at auction - highest bidder $330,000
• Saville SouthBank, Apartment 1307 - sold prior to auction for $1,400,000

Sales:

• 99/204 Alice Street, Brisbane - $480,000 (The Gardens)
• 901/108 Albert Street, Brisbane - $407,000 (Festival Towers)
• 655/420 Queen St, Brisbane - $1,050,000 (Aurora)
• 651/420 Queen Street, Brisbane - $1,135,000 (Aurora)
• 1001/255 Ann Street, Brisbane - $290,000 (Rendezvous Hotel)
• 2004/21 Mary Street, Brisbane - $500,000 (Metro 21)
• 1004/35 Astor Terrace, Brisbane - $315,000 (The Astor)
• 5304/226 Margaret Street, Brisbane - $3,740,000 (Vision - off the plan sale)

There are plenty of listings in Festival Towers and Charlotte Towers.  (For example, Margaret Waters has a corner apartment listed on level 26 (apartment 2601) for $475,000.  And see other posts below.)  This doesn't help the price in these two Devine buildings, as there is always competition between vendors.

[This is an updated post, based on a prior post from May]