YOUNGER residents who want to eat, sleep, work and play in the inner city are behind a boom in the number of cranes operating in Brisbane.
Of the 73 cranes currently operating in Brisbane, 57 are for the construction of residential properties, according to property and construction firm Rider Levett Bucknall’s biannual crane index.
Last survey, 37 of the 50 cranes operating in Brisbane were for residential projects.
New developments are mainly concentrated in the inner city, St Lucia and Carindale.
Metro Property Development executive chairman David Devine said low interest rates, social change and migration were driving the boom.
He said Metro would build 2500 new units in Brisbane by 2018.
“We see the cafe society who want to live, work and play in the same area … and this has caused this huge uplift in residential activity,” Mr Devine said.
CBRE residential projects director Jon Rivera said young people in their 20s and 30s wanted to live in the inner city, which would drive “u nprecedented growth” over the next five years.
“Changes are going to happen over the next two to five years where Brisbane will see record house prices because people don’t want to be stuck in traffic or live far away from the city and this is creating a densification of the middle,” Mr Rivera said.
By contrast, there are just 12 cranes involved commercial construction and two involved in civil projects.
Master Builders construction policy director John Crittall said the new figures indicated the strength of the construction sector.
“More cranes are dotting the Brisbane horizon, with units leading the charge in building activity,” Mr Crittall said.