Savour the size of these FNQ blocks

Bigger is better for some buyers

HOUSE blocks as small as 360sq m are selling on the northern beaches but at the other end of the scale, buyers are clamouring for space, with homes on sizeable blocks commanding a premium.

The big selling point of several new developments in the southern corridor is big blocks.

At Avalon at Goldsborough, every lot is more than 4000sq m.

Nearby at the Sugarworld development at Edmonton, blocks at The Heights range from 700sq m to 2946sq m, while blocks at The Terrace are about 650sq m.

At Cutter’s Rise at Gordonvale, blocks are from 672sq m to 11 05sq m.

Ray White Cairns South principal Therese Plath, who is marketing a five-bedroom home at Edge Hill on a 2429sq m block, said there was enormous demand for two acre or .8ha blocks – that’s 8092sq m – closer to the city.

She said there was subdivision potential for the property at 1 Junction St, with other blocks in the street subdivided.

“With council approval, you could subdivide 800sq m to 900sq m and still retain 1629sq m,” she said.

Cairns Property Office agent Robyn Hawley-Whitton said it was “the great Australian dream to own land, and the more the better”.

“Small acreage buyers are the fastest-growing acreage sector, whether it be Redlynch Valley or Goldsborough or anywhere in between,” she said.

She said buyers wanted to be able to commute to Cairns City within half an hour, and were often professional couples with families or FIFO workers with one partner at home, and they often wanted space for a horse and some chickens.

“The Cairns Regional Plan 2016 controls urban sprawl, so there is very little subdividable land close to Cairns unless it has been earmarked with development application approval for some time,” Ms Hawley-Whitton said.

“Some areas such as Edmonton will allow two acre blocks to be split into one acre blocks as density levels change.”

But she said there was a budget for all block sizes and smaller blocks were affordable.

“Many people are moving to the older areas of the region where they can renovate and update older homes on larger blocks – 700sq m to 1012sq m,” she said.

Properties on sizeable blocks that commanded a premium are plentiful – 430 Mayers St, Edge Hill, sold for more than $2m and the luxury home is on a 1596sq m block.

In the same suburb, a renovated home on 1480sq m at 77 Walsh St fetched $1.4m.

A prestige property on 2971sq m at 61 Old Smithfield Rd, Freshwater, sold for a similar price.

A property on a 2275sq m block at 2 Trundle Terrace, Whitfield, hit the market for the first time since 1996 and sold for $1.39m.

And an older-style family home on 1635sq m at 1 Crest Close, Bayview Heights, sold for $1m.

At the other end of the scale, there are some very compact house blocks on the market.

Lot 2614 Tiller Circuit, Trinity Beach, on 360sq m, sold for $220,000.

A 408sq m block at 27 Fender Circuit, Trinity Beach, has also just sold.

At Redlynch, Lot 107 Cobble Court is 427sq m and it is on the market with offers from $300,000 sought.

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