Bright patches have emerged in the property market gloom, with buyers pushing aside flood fears to push up some prices in suburbs such as St Lucia.
Belle Property Toowong agent Robin McIlwain said apartment prices in 15 flood-affected St Lucia buildings had risen almost 3 per cent above their values before last January’s floods.
“In this particular area there is an acute shortage of properties coming on to market,” Ms McIlwain said.
“Once people buy into these areas they tend to stay long-term.”
“The market has evidently traded off the inconvenience of a flood with the convenience of a location and decided it is worth the investment,” she said.
RE/MAX Property Centre Toowong agent Cathy Lammie said interest had returned to heavily flood-hit Fig Tree Pocket.
“In January I sold three properties over $1 million,” she said. “Two of them had multiple offers and one sold before going to market.”
Century 21 Westside agent Jodi Meynell said Indooroopilly was still an in-demand suburb.
“People know it’s a good-quality suburb so they’re not too worried about flooding in apartments,” she said.
“People are saying yes, it was flooded, but it was a one-off and look at the benefits of living in Indooroopilly.”
Meanwhile, the Real Estate Institute of Queensland last week reported surging demand from investors in the inner suburbs of Brisbane.
Chief executive Anton Kardash said the number of investors in the Queensland market had surged by 16 per cent, pushed by a convergence of lower prices, strong rental demand and improving confidence.
He said the current vacancy rate in inner-Brisbane was just 1.9 per cent, stoking demand.
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