Residents still paying price for 2011 floods

A loss in value for homes inundated in the 2011 Brisbane floods will be a factor in the damages payout of the Wivenhoe Dam class-action compensation claim.

Frank Beaumont’s five-bedroom Goodna home is worth almost $100,000 less since the flood. Picture: Richard Walker

A loss in value of homes inun­dated in the 2011 Brisbane floods will be factored into the damages claimed in the Wivenhoe Dam class action.

Property analysts estimated some properties had lost between 25 and 50 per cent of their pre-flood value relative to other suburbs that were not inundated.

Properties in hard-hit areas such as riverfront Yeronga and western suburbs near Ipswich and Goodna have barely grown in the past eight years, slipping further behind the Brisbane market.

Flood victim Frank Beaumont stands by a flooding sign in Goodna. Picture: Richard Walker

Maurice Blackburn lawyers, which filed a successful class ­action on behalf of the 7000 flood victims impacted by mismanagement of the Wivenhoe Dam, said residential property prices would be a factor in the final claim, which is yet to be determined.

“The class action will include claims for loss of property value where the loss of value resulted from physical damage caused to a specific property by the 2011 floods,” a spokesman from Maurice Blackburn told The Australian.

The Queensland government said earlier this month it would not appeal the NSW Supreme Court ruling that found Wivenhoe Dam was managed negligently during the flood.

But the claimants are facing a possible appeal from government-owned dam operators Seqwater and SunWater, which both lodged “notice of intention to appeal” documents on Friday.

While values in leafy, riverfront Yeronga have grown by a modest 29 per cent in the eight years since the floods, they sit well behind similar premium suburbs.

Bill and Mary Proud built their four-bedroom home in the river-wrapped suburb in 2000. Despite it being 1m above the 1974 flood line, the property was still inundated in 2011.

Mr Proud said it was important those disadvantaged were compensated: “A majority of people’s life work is invested in their property. It is the great Australian dream to own a home that increases in value. The floods dashed that for so many people.”

Ray White Ipswich principal Warren Ramsey said homeowners were still shocked by how low prices were so many years later. “A lot of people try to sell and don’t understand why they cannot get as much as their neighbour down the street who was not flood-affected,” Mr Ramsey said.

“The difference in price can be 25 per cent if the land was water-affected. If the water was inside the home, it could be between 50 and 75 per cent different.”

Data from classifieds site realestate.com.au shows house prices have largely stagnated in flood-affected areas. Goodna, Ipswich and East Ipswich values have each grown less than 10 per cent in the past eight years and remain between 60 per cent and 83 per cent behind the pace of greater Brisbane. Before the floods, Frank Beaumont’s five-bedroom home in Goodna, between Ipswich and Brisbane, was valued at about $370,000. Last week, a new appraisal showed the property was worth just $275,000.

“It makes you feel like you can’t sell because you’re giving it away,” Mr Beaumont said.

Herron Todd White director and property valuer David Notley said disasters often had an immediate impact on property ­prices, but the 2011 floods were still having a significant impact, with buyers facing high insurance premiums and difficulty obtaining credit from banks.