The PRD Nationwide Brisbane Property Hotspots report for the second half of 2015 has identified three suburbs for houses and three for units in the Queensland capital as their hotspots for 2016.
For houses, PRD pointed to Zillmere, Upper Mount Gravatt and Carina due to factors such as rental yields, population growth and planned developments.
According to the report Zillmere (median house price of $441,250) is currently returning a rental yield of 4.7%, while Upper Mount Gravatt ($586,500) has $179 million worth of developments set to begin next year and one of the city's highest projected rates of population growth. Carina ($610,750) is set to benefit from its access to the Brisbane CBD and the Gold Coast, as well as an estimated $141.2 million worth of development.
While the three suburbs are PRD’s picks for Brisbane, Brisbane based buyers’ agent Wendy Russell has mixed feelings about their outlook.
“For me I probably wouldn’t pick Zillmere, I take demographics into account when I’m looking for an area to buy in and in my opinion Zillmere doesn’t have the demographic that’s likely to lead to growth,” Russell said.
“Upper Mount Gravatt and Carina though are two suburbs that don’t really throw up any negatives to me. I haven’t bought a lot in those areas, but there’s nothing to suggest that they carry any red flags for people looking to invest.”
In terms of units, Woolloongabba, Coorparoo and Taringa - all of which are within 6 kilometres of the Brisbane CBD - are the three suburbs identified in the PRD report.
The three carry median unit prices ranging from $420,000 - $450,000, but Zoran Solano, buyers’ agent with Hot Property Specialists Buyers Agency, said people should be selective about investing in the areas.
“For me those three are all areas that have been earmarked for a lot of development and do carry some risk of oversupply,” Solano said.
“That’s not to say there isn’t value in units in those areas, but I would suggest people be selective in those areas and look to the smaller, boutique developments and try to find something with a point of difference,” he said.
“Something like a ground floor unit with a courtyard or a unit with a two car garage; something that sets you apart.”
