Then and Now

223 North Terrace Adelaide comprises of 111 apartments in 2 buildings built over the old John Martins carpark. This Buchan Lee project was completed in the last quarter of 2006 and we manage around 45 apartments in the buildings for clients.

We thought it would be interesting to examine the rental growth since completion, so we picked a typical 2 bedroom apartment in the South building as an example. It was first leased on 23 September 2006, and was just rented to its 3rd tenant a couple of weeks ago. The 79 square metre 2 bedroom apartment is rented with a car park and on an unfurnished basis.

It first rented for $375 per week ($247 per square metre per annum) and current rental is $480 per week ($316 per square metre per annum) both for a 12 month lease period. So in a period heading towards 3 and a half years, this is an increase of 28%. Hopefully for the landlord this growth will continue for the next 3 and a half years - a 28% increase over the current rental would be $614 per week!

A work completely progressed

The fitout of Apartment 31/237 Wakefield Street Adelaide has finally been finished. Earlier 'in progress' photos of the apartment can be viewed here and here.

The building itself was completed about 10 years ago, and many of the spaces were sold as empty shells - giving buyers the opportunity to have absolute creative control over apartment interiors. Apartment 31 was purchased as a shell but never completed internally because the original buyer decided to stay permanently in Western Australia and instructed us to sell it for him.

Our good friend Graham at the design and development company Urban Edge took up the challenge, and the result is simply stunning. The 3 bedroom apartment extends over 2 levels and a roof deck, giving it fabulous city and hills views. With well over 200 square metres of space, some of the striking features include:

• Solid spotted gum timber floors and cavity sliding doors
• Full height frameless door jambs
• Integrated Miele appliances in a kitchen of stainless steel and solid american rock maple benchtops with telescopic power outlets and Paco Jaanson d38 mixer taps
• 2 hand made spiral staircases with stainless steel balustrades and Pirelli rubber treads
• Custom made cabinets and floor to ceiling tiling in the bathrooms and ensuite
• Laundry chute from upper bathroom to lower laundry

It is an exceptional apartment with an abundance of natural light and a delightful double height living space balanced with private and large bedroom accommodation in a wonderful iconic building.

Click here if you are interested in purchasing this apartment.

Latte Rates

The Reserve Bank Board has just increased rates from 4% to 4.25% - the 5th rise since October 2009. This means that a standard variable rate mortgage from BankSA from 9 April will carry a rate of 7.18% for existing and new residential loans. The Reserve Bank is concerned about a bubble in the housing market and the possibility of a breakout in inflation.

Treasurer Swan says interest rates are getting back to "normal" and Governor Stevens reckons they are trending towards "average" rates. If this is the a case, then a lot of homeowners would probably prefer "abnormal" or "below average" rates!

We noticed on Tuesday that a latte at our favorite city cafe increased by 20 cents a cup. Shouldn't it have gone down if interest rates have gone up to stifle inflation? Or do they need to set the interest rates even higher? Looking closely at Governor Stevens's press release, it is clear that he thinks interest rates are not yet "average" - perhaps this is a sign that there will be more rates increases in the coming months.