The state of the apartment market – No crash as wrongly predicted, but was does the future hold? PROPERTY INSIDERS VIDEO

More and more Australians are trading backyards for balconies.

They’re happy to live in apartments trading space for place - they want to live where the action is.

In fact the wave of apartment construction has changed the shape of our cities.

Not only in the CBD and near CBD suburbs, but new apartment blocks have spread to the middle and even outer suburbs.

Some say Sydney and Melbourne have Manhattanised.

Have we been building too many apartments?

Are we building the wrong type of dwelling?

Is the oversupply causing a crash like many predicted?

And what’s ahead for our apartment markets – that’s what I discuss today with Dr Andrew Wilson in this week's Property Insiders  video chat.

 Watch as we discuss:

• The unprecedented apartment boom of the past 5 years in most capitals which has now clearly ended. This has implications for undersupply in coming years.
• Although record levels of apartments have been built in recent years, the unit market continues to outperform houses.
• Doomsayer predictions of oversupply and sharply falling prices have unsurprisingly proven to be false - in particular Brisbane where apartment prices and rents are rising and vacancy rates continue to fall.
• 
• The sharp decline in unit construction has significant consequences for the economy which has benefitted from the recent boom that has offset the end of the mining boom and the depletion of the manufacturing sector.
• Demand for units is set to accelerate from a more diverse buyer profile as apartment living emerges as a preferred lifestyle for many.
• The peak of the supply cycle has now been reached in Melbourne and Sydney and predictably sales are relatively scarce exacerbated by misguided lending policies to investors, restrictions on Chinese buyers and general fragile sentiment.
• Tighter planning restrictions for apartments, particularly in suburban areas will exacerbate the emerging undersupply.
  • NIMBYS and NOTES
  • The missing middle
• Latest approvals data shows some early signs of a revival in unit buildings.

About Michael Yardney Michael is the founder of Metropole Property Strategists who help their clients grow, protect and pass on their wealth through independent, unbiased property advice and advocacy. He's once again been voted Australia's leading property investment adviser and one of Australia's 50 most influential Thought Leaders. His opinions are regularly featured in the media.