Jamie Martin[/caption]
Sydney and Melbourne residential property gets the lion's share of media attention. But the fact is, Brisbane's market is performing just as well, showing incredibly promising signs of long-term growth. Logan City is a particularly impressive area - located between the Gold Coast and Brisbane - this small city has seen a rate of residential development unlike any other in South East Queensland (SEQ).
Jamie Martin, Ray White's director of land marketing in SEQ, is a man who knows more than most about this exciting growth region. We sat down with him to talk about his role here at Ray White and to discuss the state of play in Logan's vacant land market.
Jamie's career and accomplishments
Jamie's been around the block and back, when it comes to land marketing. He spoke about his experience and the diversity of his role here at Ray White:
"I've been involved in land marketing for over 16 years. I now head the land marketing team in South East Queensland. We're A high-performance team which covers sales, project marketing, research, contract administration as well as bringing in finance through the loan market. It's a personalised service with premium results for the land developer."
What Jamie really enjoys about his position though, is being able to play a part in forming communities from the ground up:
"Starting at the planning stage of a new community and seeing it through to a fruition is really rewarding. Sometimes it can take a few years to take place, but it's great to see the completed homes, retail and the educational facilities you've been involved in."
Jamie's played an integral role in the success of a number of award-winning residential developments in the area, so he gets to experience this feeling fairly often!
Median land prices are increasing steadily
"There's been very solid sales growth in the last 12 months, median vacant land price has increased by 7.5 per cent."
Logan City's potential as a development site has come to fruition in the last few years. Since 2008 the area has averaged well over 1,500 lot approvals a year, as well as experiencing solid sales turnover and value growth. The last 12 months have been particularly robust according to Jamie:
"There's been very solid sales growth in the last 12 months, median vacant land price has increased by 7.5 per cent on the previous year, it's gradually increasing each year but it's still showing great value for first home buyers."
Since 2014 this has been the case, with land's median price turning sharply up in the area around that time. All indicators show that this trend will continue, and that residential vacant land in Logan will remain a solid investment in years to come.
Interestingly, house and land packages in the area have also shown value increases. A total of 238 packages were sold in the year to March, at a value almost 5 per cent higher than last year.
Vacant land sales and approvals stay solid
2015 was a historic year for the vacant land market in Logan. Almost 3500 lots were approved, Ray White sold well over 1,000 plots of vacant land and value increases were in full flight. In the year to March, this trend slowed slightly with lot approvals dropping to 2,500 and sales turnover decreasing by 12.21 per cent. Jamie explained that despite these figures, demand is still incredibly high in the area:
Just looking at the Logan corridor alone, it accounts for over 38 per cent of SEQs current developer land."
"Lot approvals are down - that's the reason behind the slightly lower sales turnover. But as soon as lots are registered they sell, so when more land is developed that sales turnover will rapidly increase."
Ray White research shows that lot registration has actually increased by 1 per cent over the same period last year. This shows that despite the slight drop in approvals, the completion of new houses is still ticking over steadily in Logan City. In the future this trend is expected to continue:
"Land in the area will continue to provide significant future growth. Just looking at the Logan corridor alone, it accounts for over 38 per cent of SEQs current developer land. There's a lot of infrastructure projects coming into play, from roadworks, to education and retail. There's certainly a large investment into the region, so as that continues I think we'll see more people moving into the region, and more growth," Jamie said.
Value, affordability and investment growth
Logan has a lot to offer everyone from first home buyers, to investors. Both of those groups will be happy to know that against the trend, in Australia, Logan's lot size is actually increasing:
"Average land sizes are decreasing around Australia, several regions are down around 400sqm. The median in Logan is sitting at around 487sqm - a 2.3 per cent increase over last year. This shows that there's good value here for those who want a larger lot that's still affordable." Jamie said.
With so much to offer, and so much room for more development it's only up from here for Logan. Get in touch with a local agent if you'd like to take advantage of the opportunities on offer in this exciting growth region.
