GREENSLOPES

The suburb of Greenslopes is located four kilometres southeast of the Brisbane Central Business District (CBD) and is recognised as one of Brisbane’s premier residential suburbs.

The dwelling landscape is diverse with a mix of tin and timber Queenslander homes, older six-pack style developments and more modern medium density developments.

The suburb is bordered to the west by large tracts of open space and Norman Creek. Demand for dwellings within the suburb is principally driven by young, affluent professionals with a demonstrating willingness and ability to pay above average rents.

1. Queensland Government Statistician’s Office
2. ABS – excluding other tenure/tenure not stated

POPULATION & DEMOGRAPHICS

The State Government1 projects that population growth throughout the suburb will be relatively low in comparison to suburbs similarly located within close proximity to the CBD. This is principally a function of the lack of available land for redevelopment within the suburb which will contain a large expansion of the area’s population.

Demand for rental dwellings within the suburb is particularly strong with 56% of all dwellings2 occupied by renters. This tenure profile is significantly higher than that recorded throughout Queensland at the time of the 2011 Census of 34%.

Apartment living in the suburb is well supported, accounting for almost half (49%) of all dwellings within Greenslopes, which is 37% higher than that recorded throughout Queensland. Commensurate with this is a dominance of smaller dwelling types with more than half (54%) of all dwellings comprised of one and two bedrooms.

Greenslopes is primarily occupied by Gen-Y residents who account for almost 40% of the suburb’s population. In line with this is a population who are largely living in lone person and couples without children households. At the time of the 2011 Census, lone person households were the dominant household type accounting for 35% of all occupied dwellings.

This is in stark contrast with the Queensland figure of 22%. The suburb’s resident population is typically affluent and well educated, with almost half (44%) working in professional or managerial occupations. The median weekly personal income of residents in the area is 27% (or $180) per week higher than the State’s.

The primary implication of this is that dwelling demand in the area is typically stemming from younger, affluent professionals looking to occupy one and two bedroom apartments.

INFRASTRUCTURE & EMPLOYMENT

Greenslopes is one of Brisbane’s most accessible suburbs with a large volume of transport infrastructure in place providing a high level of connectivity to surrounding amenities and major employment nodes throughout South East Queensland.

The South East Busway forms part of a 25 kilometre bus only rapid transport network of Busways which connects Greenslopes and surrounding suburbs through Brisbane to Brisbane’s CBD, major shopping centres and employment nodes. The Busway links with the Queensland Rail network at various points throughout the Busway grid.

The South East Busway has a station in Greenslopes which is serviced by a number of bus routes. Travel time to the CBD (King George Square Station) is approximately 15 minutes.

Buranda Station is the next inbound station from Greenslopes on the South East Busway route. Buranda Station provides connections with both the Eastern Busway running from Coorparoo to the University of Queensland and the Queensland Rail network. Buranda Station is strategically located within walking distance from the PA Hospital, one of largest health employers in the State.

The Shorncliffe/Cleveland train line stops at Buranda station which runs frequently from Cleveland to Shorncliffe. From Buranda the line has stops in the heart of major employment and recreational nodes including Park Road, South Bank and South Brisbane. At Roma Street and Brisbane Central the Line links with the entire South-East Queensland’s rail network, including the Airport Line.

The 670 bed Greenslopes Private Hospital which is owned and operated by the global hospital group Ramsay Health is a major driver of dwelling demand in the area. The hospital provides an extensive range of inpatient, outpatient and critical care services. The Hospital is the leading private teaching hospital in Australia and provides a range of clinical services including cardiology, intensive care, orthopaedic, maternity, neurology and general surgery. The Greenslopes & Ramsay Specialist Centres and the Greenslopes Speciality Clinics are all co-located within the facility.

The suburb is also situated within close proximity of the state’s major health employment node – the Inner South Health Precinct containing the Mater and Princess Alexandra Hospitals. The precinct is estimated to have a base workforce of more than 15,000 persons.

RETAIL AMENITY

The Greenslopes Mall is centrally located within the suburb and services the everyday needs of the local community. The Mall is home to a large Coles Supermarket and 30 speciality stores. The Mall is currently undergoing a major refurbishment and expansion which will not only enhance the retail offering but will provide a more modern shopping facility for residents of the area.

The Stones Corner Village is within walking distance of Greenslopes and is widely recognised as one of inner Brisbane’s unique retail and lifestyle precincts. The Village contains a diverse range of speciality retailers including gourmet food purveyors, health and medical services, restaurants, cafes and an Aldi supermarket. The Stones Corner Hotel hosts the annual Cider and Beer Festival which brings together the local community in a festive and relaxed environment.

Buranda Shopping Village is within a 5 minute drive from Greenslopes and houses both a Woolworths supermarket and Target department store in addition to a range of speciality retailers and services including health and beauty, banking and a medical centre.

RECREATIONAL AMENITY

Greenslopes is widely recognised as one of inner Brisbane’s greener suburbs with large tracts of open space and parklands throughout. Norman Creek runs through the 5.6 hectare Thompson Estate Reserve which borders the suburb to the west providing a large buffer between the Pacific Motorway and residential dwellings located throughout the suburb. The Thompson Estate Reserve is a popular recreational destination for the local community containing barbeques, a half court, a dedicated picnic area, a playground and soccer fields.

The recently completed The Nicholson Street Bikeway runs from the Greenslopes Busway Station to Nicholson Street adjacent to the Greenslopes Hospital through Thompson Estate Reserve and the former Stephens Mountain Quarry land. The Bikeway has also vastly improved access from Thompson Estate Reserve to the new Veloway V1Cycleway which runs along the Pacific Motorway. The 17 kilometre Veloway 1 connects cyclists from Brisbane City to the Gateway Motorway off-ramp at Eight Mile Plains.

The 3.3 hectare Ekibin Park is also located within the suburb and is home to the Greenslopes Bowls Club and the Annerley FC Soccer Club which has six fields spread across Ekibin Park and in the neighbouring Thompson Estate Reserve. The Club caters for teams in juniors, youth, senior men’s, senior women, over 35’s and commercial league.

On the border between Greenslopes and Coorparoo sits Langlands Park which is one of the most utilised and popular sporting facilities in the local area. The Park is the home ground of Easts Leagues Club with a seating capacity of around 5,000 and containing two restaurants, gaming and entertainment rooms. The Park also houses the Langlands Park Memorial Pool containing a 50 metre pool, a 10 metre teaching pool and a semi-shaded wading pool. The Park provides an expansive volume of open space, a large playground, picnic facilities and fitness stations.

Many other parks are located within Greenslopes including Hanlon Park, and Rosegles Street Park and an array of smaller pocket parks.

EDUCATION

Families and tertiary students within the area are afforded a diverse choice of educational facilities. More than fifteen childcare and preschools are located within Greenslopes and its immediate surrounds including the Greenslopes Child Care Centre, Goodstart Early Learning Coorparoo and C&K Stones Corner Community Kindergarten Inc.

A number of the State’s premier educational facilities are all located within a ten minute drive from Greenslopes including The Anglican Church Grammar School, Somerville House, Villanova College and Loreto College.

Additionally, more than 30 primary and secondary schools are located within the immediate catchment area. Five kilometres from Greenslopes is the South Bank Institute of Technology which is one of the largest providers of Technical and Further Education in the state. The Institute is estimated
to have a total enrolment of 30,000 students.

Via the Eastern Busway, students are afforded direct access to the State’s premier universities – the University of Queensland, the Queensland University of Technology
(Garden’s Point and Kelvin Grove) campuses.

Collectively, these three institutions have more than 85,000 students enrolled. Not surprisingly, being within such close
proximity to these major education nodes there is a high level of demand for dwellings within the area stemming from both students and academic staff.

APARTMENT MARKET FUNDAMENTALS

Median apartment price growth throughout Greenslopes has been solid averaging 3.7% per annum over the long term (past ten years), which has outperformed the rate of median price growth recorded across Brisbane over the same time frame. Over this period there has been an average annual demand for 133 apartments in the area. This low level of transactions is demonstrative of the tightly held nature of product in the area. Despite the strong rate of growth the median apartment price remains affordable in comparison to the 21 inner city suburbs and, with the delivery of new apartment product into the area over the coming years, median values are expected to rise to be more in line with the inner city median.

Greenslopes – Apartment Market Fundamentals 2004 to 2014

Source: Resolution Research, The State of Queensland – April 2015

RENTAL MARKET FUNDAMENTALS

According to the latest data released by the Residential Tenancies Authority, the median weekly rent of a one bedroom apartment in Greenslopes grew by an average of 2.9% per annum between December quarter 2010 and December quarter 2014. This translates to an increase of $30 per week in median weekly rents. Across the two bedroom apartment market, median weekly rents have similarly lifted by $30 per week over the same time period.

Vacancy rates throughout the suburb have been declining over recent months, consistently staying below the 3.0% rate considered to be indicative of a balanced market. At the time of undertaking this research, vacancy rates have dropped to 2.6% pointing to a market which is in a state of rental undersupply. In concert with this, the suburb is also recording a high gross rental yield of 5.5%.

These rental market fundamentals, combined with a shortage of new supply coming in to the marketplace to service demand, suggests that Greenslopes is emerging as a new rental hotspot for investors.