Welcoming SPACE Projects

SPACE Property has recently opened a SPACE Projects division based in Newstead as the Brisbane apartment market strengthens, with an impending undersupply in many areas.

The opening of the Newstead office, located at Level 1, 14 Proe Street, comes as SPACE Property has more than doubled its presence in Brisbane’s inner city in recent months, with the addition of three new offices to its existing offices in Paddington and South Brisbane.

The ongoing expansion of SPACE Property in Brisbane is a vote of confidence in the city and its property market, including the apartment market, which has recently come out of a period of oversupply.

SPACE Projects Director Adam Gray has 30 years of experience in real estate in South East Queensland, including as a research director and a property developer.

“Project marketing is a division many agencies want to add to their business and our office complements the SPACE brand,” he said.

“I rebranded to join SPACE Property because it’s a great brand with great people, and it’s hugely advantageous to our developer clients having the network of offices to sell apartment projects.”

SPACE Projects is involved in both residential site sales and off-the-plan apartment and townhouse sales across the Brisbane City Council area, with projects ranging in size from around 20 to 100.

Current projects include Quattro and The Jasmine at Indooroopilly, The Lane Apartments in Wynnum and M Apartments in Kangaroo Point.

Mr Gray said there was no longer an oversupply of apartments in Brisbane; in fact there is now an undersupply, which will lead to price increases.

“For the past three years I have been telling everyone the apartment market would go into undersupply and it’s now rapidly heading towards that, if not already there,” he said.

“One of the measures for an oversupply or undersupply is activity in the rental market and right now vacancies are reducing, sitting under three per cent, and rents are growing.

“There are areas that probably still have enough apartments for sale and vacancy is higher, but there aren’t many now, and in particular, some of the further out suburbs are definitely in undersupply.

“People looking for an apartment should buy now, because in six months’ time it will be more expensive, and in 12 months’ time it will be even more expensive, as prices continue to rise.

“I know even in one month’s time, if you buy the same apartment it will be dearer.”

Mr Gray said outer suburbs such as Wynnum were currently seeing very strong demand, particularly due to retirees, and projects were catering to owner-occupiers.

One project being marketed by SPACE Projects in Wynnum – Indigo Apartments – has just sold out, with all 16 apartments under contract, while the 17-apartment project The Lane Apartments is just about to launch.

Investor enquiry, particularly from Melbourne and Sydney, has increased significantly over the past two to three months after a brief hiatus earlier this year, and first homebuyers are also more active, said Mr Gray.

“There has been lots of activity and good sales since we opened our SPACE Projects office,” he said.

“The market has well and truly bounced back from the oversupply it experienced; people are off the fence now and buying.

“Brisbane has good interstate migration and jobs growth, and with the difference in price between here and Melbourne and Sydney, people from down south are saying ‘maybe I should move to Brisbane’ – and it’s happening.”

At the same time as increased demand for apartments, Mr Gray said there was a lack of projects coming out of the ground, with very few cranes around, leading to an undersupply.

“Developers are finding it very hard to get approval for site purchases at the moment due to lending restrictions and difficulty securing pre sales in the first six months of this year.

“But a button was pushed about a month after the Federal Election, with activity significantly picking up.

“It didn’t happen instantly, but interest rates dropped and banks started to release lending for apartment buyers and everything is now heading in the right direction.”

SPACE Projects helps developers identify sites, with Mr Gray using his research background to help clients reduce their risk and identify the best areas in Brisbane to develop.

Nick Penklis, Managing Director at SPACE Property, said developers were now aggressively looking for residential apartment development sites, which was a very good sign the sector is picking up.

“There is demand for apartments from both owner-occupiers – particularly empty-nesters - and investors, with the latter seeing property as the best place to park their money at the moment, with returns improving as rents increase and days on market fall.

“The Brisbane market has become a lot more sophisticated in apartment living, which is another dramatic change we have seen take place over the years.

“Density will continue to increase in Brisbane, just as it has in many other cities around the world.”

Mr Penklis said generally, activity in Brisbane’s residential market had picked up significantly since the Federal Election, and would only strengthen further due to the city’s fundamentals.

“Confidence has absolutely returned to the market; we have seen at least a 25% 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.

“Brisbane is a safe bet for buyers - we have always had steady and consistent growth, without the fluctuations of the southern markets, and there’s no doubt it will see continued growth.

Mr Penklis said SPACE Property was growing in response to the upcoming growth in Brisbane.

“We are delighted to add a Projects division to our brand, particularly with Adam at the helm, as he brings unrivalled experience and knowledge to our team,” he said.

Mr Penklis said real estate agents were attracted to the SPACE brand because it offered something different from the traditional real estate model.

“We have a more collaborative approach, rather than promoting competition between offices.

“Our theory is ‘the more, the more’, which essentially reflects our belief that we’re stronger when we all work together rather than solo.

“As the sole director of SPACE Property, I have the ability to give all stakeholders a say in how the business develops. We can innovate and progress very quickly rather than going through a chain to make decisions and effect change.”