The Weekend Post - Real Estate
BUYERS TURNING BACK THE CLOCK ON DESIGN
CAIRNS and national city dwellers are increasingly becoming more open to longer drives to work as acreage properties outside the city rapidly rise in popularity.
Cairns Property Office manager Peter Hanrahan said he’d noticed an increase in inquires for properties from Feluga, south of Innisfail to Cooktown, west to Milla Milla and anything in between that was about 0.5ha or greater.
“It’s been a long time coming with the smaller land releases from developers (in recent years),” Mr Hanrahan said. “People have always wanted the space, the peace and quiet and this virus has just given them the time to think about what’s important and we’re seeing that push. There’s been inquires from (southern capital cities), where buyers are picking up these large land-only properties and just holding on to them to use in 15 years maybe.
“I think we’ve all known for a long time that people have been wanting to get out of the cities and now we’re seeing it happen.”
He said Cairns residents were happy to move further away from their place of work in the CBD, drive the extra distance each day, but enjoy the lifestyle of an acreage property.
“Anything at Edmonton or Kuranda where they might have to drive 20 or 30 minutes is fine. A lot of these people are in their 40s-60s, good financial positions and they’re thinking they don’t need to be in tight neighbourhoods anymore. We’ve even had interest in people wanting to move to Babinda (while working in Cairns).”
He said the demand for the larger blocks, such as lot 348 Whiting Rd, Millaa Millaa (pictured), was being fairly reflected by their price tags.
“Most suburban homes we’re selling are going for the mid $200,000s to the $400,000s, but buyers are willing to pay a premium price for an acreage lot.
“It’s important to remember when buying one of these, to look for a “front row” property – something with the river, ocean, a creek or the rainforest right in front. That’s a true acreage property and where you’ll find the most value down the track.”