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| ADVICE: The best way for potential buyers to find out if a property had flooded is to ask the neighbours. |
BRISBANE City Council's Floodwise property reports have been accused of putting a dampener on home sales.
There are claims that the reports, which are designed to provide information about the flood risk of a property after last year's floods, have been responsible for scaring people off buying.
Nick Horgan recently put his Carina property, a prime development site, up for auction, but when no one turned up he rang a couple of developers who said that they had decided not to bid after checking the council's Floodwise report.
They had misinterpreted the report, believing the property had been under 1m of water during the 2011 floods.
The report actually says that while flood levels in January last year were 1.2m above sea level, his property was situated more than 3m above sea level. "The water came nowhere near our place," Mr Horgan said.
He said the reports were misleading. "The concept (of Floodwise) was good, but it was done on the heels of the Brisbane floods when everyone was jittery and on the heels of a downturn in the property market," Mr Horgan said.
He said the problem wasn't just lost sales.
"There would be a lot of people who have sold their property at deflated prices because of the flood or the possibility of a flood," he said.
Mr Horgan said he would prefer to see a topographic report that clearly showed the elevation of a property and where floodwaters came up to on a map of that particular property.
Real estate agent Chris Warren, from Remax Colonial, said the reports were difficult to understand.
"They are very confusing and we cannot explain to potential buyers what the situation exactly is with a property," Mr Warren said.
A Brisbane City Council spokesperson said the council was investigating 15 queries relating to disputes with its Floodwise information after the January 2011 floods.
Real Estate Institute of Queensland chief Anton Kardash said the increasing use and reliance on this type of information in the buying process meant guidelines needed to be developed to ensure the data was accurate and reliable.
Real estate watchdog and lawyer Tim O'Dwyer said the best way to find out if a property had flooded was to ask around.
"The most inexpensive and most reliable way to get flood information about any property is always to ask the neighbours," he said.
10.4.12
