Residz Team 2 min read
Australians love living near water. We will pay a premium to live near the coast, beside a river, overlooking a lake, or with a ‘water glimpse.’ But with extreme weather events, like 100-year floods, happening more often, how can we be certain our dream water view doesn’t come inside our home or risk life and property? Here we look at areas impacted by floods and one quick way you can check your address.
In 2011 and again just recently we have seen some terrifying scenes of flooding in a city popular with investors: Brisbane. The fatal floods hit the city with such force that the premier called it an unpredictable rain bomb. The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said that while it wasn’t related to a tropical cyclone, it was ‘of similar intensity’ in some areas. Such an extreme event is a terrible tragedy for locals, but also personally concerning for some interstate investors.
It’s likely plenty of homes in areas threatened by flood would now be owned by interstate property buyers. During the pandemic tens of thousands of them bought homes, occasionally in a FOMO frenzy and sight unseen, in towns and cities across south-east Queensland and northern NSW, the areas where most severe weather warnings have been issued. For example, a Place Advisory Study in late 2021 showed that interstate investor purchases of houses in Brisbane surged by 148 per cent since the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020.
At the time of writing, the Bureau of Meteorology issued “likely to flood” warnings for dozens of Brisbane suburbs at risk of Brisbane River flooding, including these ones that saw huge lifts in value during the housing boom:
Carindale and Paddington, two of Canstar’s list of 10 best suburbs in Brisbane to invest in 2022, were also declared likely to flood by the Bureau of Meteorology. In fact, nearly 100 suburbs, which include Brisbane CBD, Wilston, Windsor, Newmarket, Auchenflower, Hawthorne, Kelvin Grove and Hamilton, had residents scrambling to save belongings and pets before a predicted inundation, reported the Courier-Mail on February 27.
Up and down the east coast were similar tales, with storms expected to follow the torrential rain, adding to the destruction and chaos. With nearly a year’s rainfall falling in just a few days, low lying areas in the central business district were completely inundated causing devastating loss of life and property. Property purchasers will be trying to find out if their investments have been spared the worst of the weather.
Investors keen to find out the likelihood of flooding in their property’s suburb can use the Brisbane River Flood Forecasting Tool. You can look up your address at the council’s Flood Awareness Map. As well, Residz.com takes you to the Brisbane Flood Map when you select “MORE” at the Potential Flood Risk section for any Brisbane address. You can then move this map about and view all potential flood zones in Australia.
Image:Grey Street, South Brisbane, photo by Rae Allen, Wikipedia