Why the Brisbane apartment market has the most potential in Queensland: Five minutes with Mosaic's Brook Monahan
All the talk has been about how the Gold Coast has dominated the South East Queensland apartment market since COVID triggered an exodus from the southern states.
And the fanfare around the coastal areas, with the majority of the country working from home for the last few years, has seen Queensland's capital fly quietly under the radar.
Mosaic Property Group Founder and Managing Director Brook Monahan believes the inner ring surrounds of Brisbane has the most potential of any market in the state, and is looking to invest even further across its development pipeline after building a solid reputation over the last 17 years across south east Queensland.
"There's just not enough high quality built form for owner occupiers wanting bigger units, and world class amenity, in the five kilometre ring around Brisbane," Monahan said, suggesting there's been a chronic undersupply for that type of buyer since around 2018.
"That issue is getting worse, not better, with the amount of people still moving to Brisbane," Monahan added.
The Witton in Indooroopilly, which Mosaic sold out last year
Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed Queensland gained around 7000 people from net interstate migration over the March 2021 quarter alone.
"With the amount of infrastructure being delivered across the city, not to mention international travel getting back to normal at some point this year and the pipeline of development in preparation for the 2032 Summer Olympics, there is just nowhere near enough housing stock."
The low stock is a pain point for the owner-occupier demographic, but not for investors, who Monahan says aren't quite back in full force just yet.
While Mosaic tend to cater for local owner occupiers in their developments, some investors who bought apartments to lease in Brisbane, have seen rental yields go through the roof.
"If it's difficult to buy a larger apartment due to low supply, then the only option is to rent, and those who invested are benefitting from the tight supply and huge migration numbers," Monahan said.
Mosaic will be launching five projects in Brisbane across 2022, nine all up across South East Queensland. They'll be venturing into the Kangaroo Point and East Brisbane apartment markets after much success there in recent years, including the The Sinclair, which is fully sold out and due for completion mid this year.
One of their major focuses for the last eight years has been in Brisbane's inner west suburbs, which Monahan identified as a high growth area back in 2014. Last year they sold out The Witton in Indooroopilly, The Patterson in Toowong, and Kensington in Toowong, with all sales going to database buyers before hitting the open market.
The first to launch this year will also be in Toowong, which will be Mosaic's 11th project in the space of six years in the inner-west.
The soon-to-be-launched Toowong project.
The development, designed by DKO directly behind Toowong Shopping Centre, will offer a mix of large two and three-bedroom units and luxury penthouses.
The facade is inspired by the detailing and repetition of the traditional Queenslander. The veiled podium references the nearby Regatta Hotel on the Brisbane River.
There are four different zones on the rooftop. There's a wet zone, including pool and wet deck, with views to the city and river; a dining zone, including outdoor BBQ area and shelter overlooking the city and river; a wellness zone, which is a combination of a yoga lawn and gardens; and the multiuse zone to the south west which can be utilised for co-working during office hours or a communal kitchen and dining area after hours and on the weekends.
