Melbourne buyer lured by North’s low prices

NORTH Queensland’s affordable land prices have enticed a Melbourne developer to buy a large rural holding north of Townsville.

However, Colliers International associate director Angelo Castorina said it was the first case he could quote where high prices in the booming capitals had clinched a deal here.

“At the end of the day, it was sold to a Chinese developer out of Melbourne whose reason for buying was that they can no longer afford property in the Melbourne market,” Mr Castorina said.

“This case was a little bit unique.”

The holding was put to the market by a mortgagee.

The 367ha parcel about 30km north of Townsville sold for just $ 732,500, less than half its unimproved valuation.

The property adjoins the Bluewater Park rural residential subdivision and has frontage to Forestry Road and borders the Bruce Highway. Access is from Forestry Road.

The property has an expired development permit to reconfigure the site into nine lots of about 40ha each.

Valuer and senior project manager with the Opteon Property Group in Townsville, Jennifer- lee Sinclair, said they were providing advice to the buyer, Bluewater Land Project.

Ms Sinclair said the owners would approach Townsville City Council seeking further development approvals.