Detached houses back in vogue in Queensland
Following a year of high activity for multi-unit developments in 2014 this year is seeing a return to demand for detached houses in Queensland. Building approvals for detached homes in the state were up 14 per cent in the three months to November according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Approvals for multi-unit developments fell 28 per cent in the same period. Warwick Temby, the Housing Industry Association’s Queensland executive director said: “Detached home approvals grew by 30 per cent in Brisbane, 51 per cent on the Gold Coast and 43 per cent in the Sunshine Coast. As more serviced land comes onto the market during 2015, HIA would expect the detached home sector to improve further.”

Architects benefitting from housing boom
Architects and designers have seen increasing demand for their services in the last year or so due to the buoyancy of the property market. Recruitment website SEEK says there has been a 42 per cent hike in the number of job ads for both professions. Good volumes of sales together with a large number of homeowners choosing to stay in their existing properties and make changes has boosted the need for home design experts. 

Perth set for a concrete future if car usage continues to grow
Perth will require a huge amount of parking spaces if the current level of car usage continues. The city currently has the highest level of car ownership in Australia at close to 650 vehicles for every 1000 people and the Mayor of Freemantle has estimated that there will be a requirement for an additional 3.9 million parking bays by 2040. This is based on the principle of a car needing a space at home, one at work and another one; a total of 100 square kilometres. Brad Pettitt says that it would work out cheaper to build two new light railway schemes. The Mayor says that infrastructure choices need be more carefully considered and a shift made towards more use of transit systems and mixed-use developments to curb the need for cars. 

Australia’s most expensive parking space
Sydney is well known for its high property prices but while many have stretched their budgets to afford apartments, villas and detached houses, few might be prepared to splash out $330,000 on a parking space. That’s the asking price for a space in the basement of a CBD apartment block. With parking at a premium in the city centre it’s not unusual to pay $150,000 for a single space despite the average being $73,000. However the owner of this space says his premium value is due to the space being able to fit two cars behind one another. 

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