Units filling up
Brisbane's apartment construction boom has deservedly garnered a lot of press in recent years, but approvals and commencements have continued to slow.
And, just as importantly, the population is moving into south-east Queensland.
In New Farm and Teneriffe, vacancy rates are at the lowest level since 2012 at 1½ per cent (not that these suburbs were ever high risk).
Source: SQM Research
Even in West End and South Brisbane, where construction had been hammering along, oversupply risks have faded.
Source: SQM Research
Likewise in Hamilton, which has been revitalised down by the river front in recent times.
Source: SQM Research
And in ground zero for apartment supply, Newstead, vacancy rates have fallen back to 3.8 per cent from sky-high levels.
Without being unkind, some of the new units here would be tough yakka to rent out at any price, though there is a mixture of higher quality stock in Newstead too.
Source: SQM Research
Vacancy rates have also come down from very high levels in the Brisbane CBD itself, though there have been significant settlement valuation issues in one of the high-profile developments there.
The wrap
Overall, Brisbane's apartment construction boom has long since slowed after peaking in 2016.
And fortunately the city has been a big enough drawcard for internal migrants that vacancy rates have been falling for quite some time now.
Suburban houses have delivered excellent returns in many parts of Brisbane over a long period of time, though naturally such a level of nuance is lost on a lot of interstate experts.
