Brisbane’s wettest year on record fails to wash away interest in riverfront homes

Brisbane’s wettest year on record has failed to turn buyers off riverfront property, with one agent saying he has never seen stock so tight.

Rain has not dampened waterfront demand. Picture of 43 Ivy St, Indooroopilly. Supplied: Adcock Presitge.

Brisbane’s wettest year on record has failed to wash away interest in the city’s prestigious riverfront property, which now commands a near 60 per cent premium compared to homes without a water view.

Declarations about a home’s flood resilience have become a key selling point for those dotting the edge of Brisbane’s river as buyers still look for luxury homes with the lifestyle of waterfront living despite numerous rain events through the first five months of the year.

Place Estate Agents managing director and riverfront specialist Sarah Hackett said people could not go wrong with riverfront property. Homeowners were tightly holding onto their homes, with few options on the market, which was helping to drive prices higher, she said.

Figures from the agency’s data arm, Place Advisory, found the value of riverfront properties is now 57 per cent higher than non-riverfront properties. Prices of apartments on the edge of the river have increased 13.4 per cent in the past year, while house prices had increased 9.3 per cent in a year.

“I’ve never seen the least amount of properties for sale on the riverfront,” Ms Hackett said.

“Even going to people’s houses to give appraisals, they are hard to convince to sell. When it is hard to get one, it is when they hold their value.”

Recent flooding has not deterred buyers. Data from PropTrack shows the keyword search for riverfront homes has been on a downward trend since the peak of the boom, but interest remains elevated on pre-pandemic levels.

Hawthorne, in Brisbane’s east, has seen 58 riverfront home listed in the past year, representing almost half of the suburbs total listings, while neighbouring Bulimba had 52 riverfront homes offered. Yeronga, further west down the river, had the highest portion of waterfront houses offered to the market over the past 12 months, with more than half of all homes listed in the suburb at the river’s edge.

43 Ivy St, Indooroopilly. Supplied: Adcock Prestige

Two weeks ago, luxury agent Jason Adcock was surprised that, in the midst of the city’s week-long deluge earlier this month, 25 groups braved the rain to view the newly listed modern home on the river’s edge at Indooroopilly.

The property at 43 Ivy St was designed to be both private and distinctive while not being too ostentatious. The five-bedroom, four-bathroom gallery-inspired home flows through the open-plan living space out onto the spacious entertaining area overlooking the rivers. It heads to auction on Saturday. “It’s flood-free, brand new and on one of the best streets in Brisbane,” Mr Adcock said. “Buyers were there with boots on.”

Despite prices in the river city tipped to fall over the course of the next year, Mr Adcock said he suspected that a two-speed market was emerging at the top end – activity in the range of $1m-$4m was slowing, while $4m-plus was proving resilient.

“There is way more enthusiasm, particularly for those properties not flood-affected,” Mr Adcock said.

Two neighbouring homes at 35 and 39 McConnell St, Bulimba sold for a combined $10.4m. Supplied

Late mining magnate Ken Talbot in 2010. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen.

Last month, two neighbouring properties on the Bulimba portion of the riverfront sold in a joint deal for $10.4m. The homes at 35 and 39 McConnell St were offered to the market by the daughter of mining magnate Ken Talbot (who died in a plane crash in the Congo in 2010), ­ offering a combined 2123sq m of land with a 40m water frontage.

Developer Phil Pezzi of Capital Luxury Residences bought the lots after only a few weeks on the market with Hackett, with the deal brokered by buyers agents Jordan and James Navybox from Cohen Handler.