Buyer Demand Strenthens

The agency has more than doubled its presence in the city throughout the past few months, adding offices in Toowong, Projects and Ashgrove, while also identifying  Indooroopilly, Fortitude Valley, East Brisbane, Annerley, Alderley, Wilston and Ascot as areas of interest.

Managing Director Nick Penklis said there had been been a growing trend of families wanting property in the inner-city, rather than the middle ring suburbs.

“We know many young professionals and empty nesters want to live in the inner city, but since we started selling property in Brisbane 16 years ago the biggest change we have seen is that there are more families wanting to live in the inner city too, rather than moving to the middle-ring suburbs, as they once did," he said.

"The family buyer factor is growing, with education, lifestyle and convenience underpinning the demand, particularly with traffic congestion continuing to worsen in Brisbane leading to longer and more expensive commutes.

Managing Director Nick Penklis

“These buyers are deciding instead to spend their money on a property located closer to the city, where transport costs are lower and there are plenty of great primary and secondary schools.

Mr Penklis said the ongoing expansion of SPACE in Brisbane was a vote of confidence in the city and its property market.

“Confidence has absolutely returned to the market; we have seen at least a 25 per cent rise in turnouts at open homes for both sales and rentals,” he said.

“Brisbane’s future will be underpinned by the amazing infrastructure in the pipeline. Once all the promised infrastructure comes out of the ground the city’s lifestyle will change for the better fairly quickly.

“Brisbanites have always been a conservative bunch, and the city has a difference pace to Sydney, so I don’t think future growth will be explosive, but there could be a cultural change that sees buyers take action more quickly and extend their budgets further.

The principal of the new SPACE Toowong office is Gabrielle Trickey, while SPACE Projects is headed up by Adam Gray and the SPACE Ashgrove principal is Michael Shean.