They say the house always wins and certainly the Brisbane housing market is on fire, however, the housing markets “poor cousin”, the unit market, has been stepping up its game in recent years with convenience and world class amenities at the forefront of developers game plan.

COVID’s lingering grip on international travel and an economy that’s being fuled by government funded cash injections has resulted in homeowners actioning one of three things: Renovating, up-sizing or “right-sizing”. The later, being a shift away from the downsizing trend we have historically seen from empty-nesters and retirees and a movement towards premium apartment living that affords its residents an enviable lifestyle of convenience (inner city living), simplicity (no maintenance) and luxury (premium fixtures and amenities) in a smaller dwelling with house-like proportions.

“The strong demand from down-sizers seeking easily maintainable prime properties close to city centre locations has been identified as one of nine global trends being monitored over the coming years, as identified in the Knight Frank Prime Global Forecast 2020.”

Michelle Ciesielski – Knight Frank Partner and author of Rightsizing 2020

According to Knight Franks research, the profile for buyers of prime market apartments is not limited to the older generations. Self-made entrepreneurs and those who have inherited wealth 25+ specifically desire 3-bedroom premium apartments with min 2 car spaces along with people 40+ with young families looking for min 4 bedrooms and 2 car spaces.

We can even see the statistics in demand for prime apartment in research commissioned by Commsec. The ABS found that in 2018/2019 the average new house size was 1.3% smaller than houses built the year before while apartments size grew by 3.2%.

There is still the rhetoric that Brisbane has an oversupply of units however we saw the peak of apartment complex builds in 2016 and 2017 with completions sitting at 11,100 and 10,800 respectively and it has been a radical downward slope since then and in 2022 there are only 900 (max) apartments due for completion, premium stock making up only a fraction of this number. So, as supply dwindles demand will spike.

If you’re contemplating “right-sizing” right now, I’d love to connect. I have a limited number of stunning 3 bedroom and penthouse apartments for sale which I’d love to introduce you to.