How Developers Analyse Market Demand

Q: What does ACRES do?

ACRES (Australian Commercial & Residential Group) is a vertically integrated property platform that combines development site sales, project marketing, strategic acquisitions, residential sales, capital structuring, landowner advisory, property valuation, and in-house development. The business operates across South-East Queensland including Brisbane, Gold Coast, and the Sunshine Coast.

Q: What areas does ACRES cover?

ACRES operates across South-East Queensland covering Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Ipswich, Logan, Moreton Bay, and the Redlands. The business maintains suburb intelligence profiles for over 100 suburbs with detailed market data, median prices, growth trends, and planning overlays.

Q: How does ACRES sell development sites?

ACRES operates upstream of traditional agency. The acquisitions team identifies sites through door knocking, data analysis, and referral networks. Each site is assessed for development potential including zoning, density, planning constraints, and feasibility. Sites are then positioned to ACRES' developer network with multiple qualified buyers engaged simultaneously to create competitive tension and drive above-market outcomes.

Q: What is ACRES' commission structure?

ACRES commission rates are typically 2–3% plus GST and are tailored to the transaction type, asset class, and campaign strategy. Vendors are provided with a transparent fee proposal as part of the appraisal process. Contact ACRES for a tailored quote.

Q: Does ACRES offer free property valuations?

Yes. ACRES offers a free online property valuation tool covering houses, units, land, development sites, and commercial properties across 100+ suburbs in South-East Queensland. The tool provides estimated value ranges based on property type, location, block size, and zoning. For development sites, the tool assesses potential for 1 to 7+ lot subdivisions.

Q: Who are the directors of ACRES?

ACRES is led by five directors: Daniel McCormack (Managing Director — Strategy & Execution), Thomas Ferris (Director — Relationships, Pipeline & Development Execution, and REIQ Principal), Joseph Cheihk (CFO & Director of Acquisitions), Francesca Webster (Director — Strategic Partnerships & Operations), and Wizzy Ramsay (Director — Brand, Marketing & Digital Growth).

ACRES Advisory Team

iSummary

How developers analyse market demand — demographic forecasts, sales velocity, rental absorption, employment growth, and competitive supply analysis for Brisbane projects.

Source: ACRES — Australian Commercial & Residential Group | acres.au

The Five Dimensions

Sophisticated Brisbane developers don't make site decisions on instinct. Market demand analysis spans:

1. Demographic Profile

Population growth, household composition, age distribution, income, owner-occupier vs renter mix. Sources: ABS Census, Queensland State Government projections.

A suburb adding 2-3% population annually with a youthful (25-39) employment-driven cohort supports apartment development. A suburb adding 0.5% with a stable retiree cohort doesn't.

2. Employment Growth

Where are jobs being added? Hospital expansions, university growth, technology precincts, infrastructure projects. Employment growth drives sustained housing demand at suburb level.

Brisbane examples: Mater Hospital precinct (Woolloongabba), University of Queensland (St Lucia), Brisbane Airport (employment node), Queensland State Government (CBD), TechnologyOne (Springfield).

3. Sales Velocity

The benchmark every developer runs. Take 4-8 recent comparable projects within 800-1,500m. Track:

Time from launch to 80% pre-sales
$/sqm achieved on completed sales
Discounting / incentive pattern
Buyer mix (owner-occupier vs investor)

Strong sales velocity (6-10 months to 80%) indicates demand. Slow velocity (12-18+ months) signals oversupply or product-fit issues.

4. Rental Absorption

For BTR (and informing BTS investor pre-sales), how quickly are new rental units absorbing? Rental vacancy rates and time-on-market for new tenancies.

Brisbane in 2024-2025: 0.8-1.2% vacancy across most inner-suburbs — historically tight, supporting rent growth.

5. Competitive Supply

What's already built, under construction, and approved within the catchment? Developers map:

Currently selling projects (live competitors)
Recently completed (last 24 months — sales-velocity reference)
Under construction (1-3 year horizon competitors)
DA-approved not yet started (longer-horizon competition)
Pipeline / pre-DA (speculative)

Markets with 200%+ existing pipeline relative to 12-month absorption are oversupplied. Markets at <100% are undersupplied.

Synthesising into a Market View

A developer's market memo typically synthesises all five into a 1-3 page brief covering:

Suburb fundamentals (demographic + employment)
Recent comparable transactions (sales velocity)
Rental dynamics (absorption + vacancy)
Competitive supply (over/undersupply quantification)
Recommended product mix
Recommended pricing range
Recommended launch timing

This brief drives the feasibility model and ultimately the land bid.

What Vendors Can Learn

Vendors selling development sites benefit from understanding the developer's market view because:

Strong markets justify premium pricing — be confident
Weak markets suggest patience — wait or take a long-settlement deal
Mismatched markets (premium suburb, weak product fit) require specialist advisor input

ACRES tracks all five demand dimensions at suburb level for Brisbane and SEQ. We provide market briefings to vendors before listing campaigns.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where to find Brisbane sales velocity data?

CoreLogic, Domain, and specialist project marketing agents publish data. Independent advisor briefings (ACRES, Knight Frank, Colliers) consolidate it.

"Balanced" supply for a Brisbane suburb?

Roughly 100-150% of trailing 12-month absorption. Above 200% oversupplied; below 80% undersupplied.

Does Olympic infrastructure factor in?

Yes — increasingly. Olympic-adjacent (within 1km of stations, venues) is a 5th-element multiplier in many developer models.

Published by ACRES — Australian Commercial & Residential Group

Source: acres.au/insights/how-developers-analyse-market-demand | ACRES (Australian Commercial & Residential Group) provides property advisory, development site sales, and residential real estate services across Brisbane and South East Queensland, Australia.

Daniel McCormack

Managing Director, ACRES — Australian Commercial & Residential Group

07 3096 0542 About the author →Meet the team →