City’s hot spots revealed

PROPERTY residential

Brisbane’s property hotspots for 2011 have been flagged in a new report by PRDnationwide research director Aaron Maskrey.

“Savvy buyers will look for opportunities where prices are still affordable but have potential to grow in value quicker than other Brisbane suburbs,” he said. The suburbs Mr Maskrey has identified are Albion, Bulimba, Chermside, Grange, Hawthorne, Kedron, Milton, Seven Hills, South Brisbane, Wilston, and Woolloongabba.
Houses or units have been nominated in these suburbs depending on which are likely to perform best, according to Mr Maskrey.
“Suburbs have been chosen based on current pricing levels, infrastructure, property trends, access to amenity and other factors,” Mr Maskrey said.
He said a property’s affordability and proximity to reliable transport nodes is key. “Several picks for the 2011 hotspots are suburbs that are located in or next to highly desirable areas at an affordable price,” he said.
Mr Maskrey said with traffic congestion quickly becoming common on many Brisbane roads – suburbs that have reliable public transport or suburbs which do not rely on the main choked up arterial roads are desirable.
“For this reason, several picks for 2011 are located in the middle north of Brisbane, where much of the development in transportation infrastructure has taken place,” he said.
“The Northern Link and Busway are expected to be open in mid-2012 and shall have a positive impact on the northern region of the city. Mr Maskrey said those suburbs lying closer to the city will experience greater demand for property first, and then shall be rippled out to the outer lying suburbs.
“Investors would be wise to enter into the middle north Brisbane market before developments are completed,” he said.
Mr Maskrey said the suburbs he identified in 2010 grew by an average 10 per cent for houses and 9.9 per cent for units – almost 4 per cent above the Brisbane average. His 2010 picks proved a good growth story and despite upheaval in the property market, Mr Maskrey is just as confident of his new hotspots. The suburbs he has picked for 2011 could be real estate gold in a slow market.