Two-bed unit rentals in demand in Brisbane
Two-bedroom apartments have finished top of the class in the Brisbane rental market over the past 12 months, notching up higher growth than one- and three-bedroom units, according to Place Advisory research.
Place Advisory, which believes the Brisbane property market is moving into a phase where capital growth will outstrip rental growth, said there’s still rental price growth to be found in the Queensland capital.
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“Two-bedroom apartments recorded growth in median rents in Brisbane’s inner north, south and east,” said Lachlan Walker, director at Place Advisory.
“The strongest performing suburb in Brisbane for two-bedroom apartment stock was Hamilton, situated in the city’s inner north. Median rents for two-bedroom units in Hamilton rose by 12 per cent over the past 12 months, which was largely due to higher rents being charged for new product in the area,” added Mr Walker.
Place Advisory said Wooloowin, Bulimba, Hawthorne and Fairfield were also high performers, posting a six per cent increase in the median rent for two-bedroom apartments last year.
There wasn’t such good news for one-bedroom apartments in 2013, with several suburbs – including the CBD, New Farm, Kangaroo Point and Toowong – registering a negative change in rents.
Brisbane’s inner south did register the highest rental growth rate of 2.8 per cent, while the inner east also experienced an increase of two per cent.
Three-bedroom apartments recorded negative rental growth across every inner-city region last year, with the largest decrease in rent (seven per cent) experienced in the inner east.
Place Advisory also noted that two-bedroom apartments scored an 11 per cent increase in new rental tenancies in 2013, with 3,108 new bonds recorded, compared to 1,807 new bonds for one-bedroom apartments and 608 new bonds for three-bedroom apartments.
Figures from the Real Estate Institute of Queensland show vacancy rates across Brisbane’s inner city doubled over 2013 to reach 4.1 per cent by the end of the year, but Mr Walker noted that “this was not exactly representative of the entire market”.
“We have undoubtedly moved into the phase of the property cycle where rental growth will be replaced by capital growth, and this has been reflected by an easing of rental growth,” he said.