Shift to larger apartments continues to accomodate owner occupier preferences: Urbis

The shift to larger apartment types has continued, according to Urbis. Its latest survey on the sale of new apartments illustrates the highest level of three bedroom or larger apartments sales that has been recorded in the Urbis Apartment Essentials survey since it began in 2015. "This flips the pre-pandemic result of Q3 2019 where 15% of apartments sold had 3 bedrooms or more, 53% had 2 bedrooms and 33% had one bedroom or were a studio" the report noted. It additionally calculated the actual size of each apartment type has been creeping up too, with the average 2-bedroom 2 bathroom increasing from 86 sqm to 91 sqm in the year to Q3 2021 and a 3-bedroom 2 bathroom increasing from 127 sqm to 134 sqm. The trend co-incides with owner occupiers making up a larger share of demand. It noted owner occupiers ranging from 55% in Inner Brisbane to 75% in Sydney. Overseas buyers that were once a major driver of the apartment market have fallen from a peak of 29% in 2016 to only represent 5% of buyers in Q3 2021. Urbis noted this buyer pool has been significantly impacted by Covid induced restrictions on travel and inbound international students to Australia, along with foreign buyer taxes.