Looking for help. Cairns locals chime in

Hi,

We're holidaying in Port Douglas at the minute and are really enjoying it. Drove from Cairns and are interested in buying a rural property that's still close to town (Cairns) and employment in the range of anywhere up to say $450k. Which suburbs should we be looking in? The Wife has always said she'd end up there one day and now I believe her. Cost is an issue and the lower the better so if there's somewhere close that might fit the bill then we'd love to hear from you
 
If you're looking at at least 1 acre with a house on it, the closest property of that type to Cairns will be either Kuranda or Babinda - maybe Goldsborough; which are roughly 40 minutes to 1 hour away.

http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-qld-goldsborough-119298219
http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-qld-kuranda-119477947

Most houses on 1 acre blocks in decent areas within 20 minutes either north or south of Cairns are $550,000+ (northside is like $650,000+, southside is $550,000+)
 
As above. It really depends on what you mean by rural and 'close to town'. A quick look suggests Babinda or Goldsborough for land size in that price range. Babinda is a nice drive to Cairns, unlike Kuranda. You might find something closer if you are happy with less land, but you definitely need to be more specific. Beachy is spot on with prices.

Cheers

Jen
 
Thanks for your help guys. I may not be very specific because we're very open so please, local advice very welcome here. Basically, we'd love to be close to a beach, close to employment (as in half an hr max) an at least 2 acres of land. Doesn't even have to be Cairns but we love the tropical climate, scenery and friendly people. Maybe we need to take some time to do a drive along the coast some more? Port Douglas itself may even suit us? I was looking briefly at Julatten. Only need a 2 bedder too which cuts price quite a bit. Thing is, I can't seem to find property within our price range in Babinda or Goldsborough? So that's a good reason why I'm asking for further suggestion

we're only looking for rural because we live rural now and like it. Plus, we have cattle dogs who love to bark at anything that moves.. but I think that if the yard size was decent and they couldn't see through to passers by they'd be fine. So there's another spanner in the works we'll need to think about if there isn't any affordable rural blocks suitable for us. We'll get there one way or another!
 
Did you want usable land as part of that acerage or is up the side of a mountain with an average sized yard ok?

If you are looking at Kuranda take into consideration having to travel the Kennedy hwy if you work in Cairns itself. It's windy and there's always works happening plus accidents that close of one lane (or 2) which make for very slow travelling.

When I was looking to move here I was also looking at acerage and had short-listed Kuranda and Goldsborough but they were too cold for my liking!
 
Julatten is a great idea if you can find a property within your price range. It has the best climate apparently. South Cairns would have more larger blocks, be closer to work areas but not the beach so much.

You say you want to be 1/2 hour from work, I would get the job first as finding work is insanely hard.
 
Other than the options already mentioned have a look at Koah, Speewah and Kuranda they all have acreage available in your price range, the amount of stock on the market can vary. The drive down the Kuranda Range doesn't take that long but it can sometimes close due to crashes or landslides in the wet season, this puts many people off from purchasing in these locations. The drive to the CBD would be slightly more than half an hour most likely depending on the exact location.
Lots of people do make this commute as they are willing to sacrifice convenience for a rural lifestyle on acreage in a slightly cooler climate
 
The price massively differs whether you want 2 FLAT acres or 2 HILLSIDE elevated acres. You can buy a house with 2 hillside acres in Kuranda for around $400,000 but try getting that on the northern beaches of Cairns and you'd be lucky to get any change out of $700,000. You should have bought 2-3 years ago when the market was dead in Cairns :D
 
Where is Bartle Frere? RE.com says it's half an hr south of Cairns. Just wondering why no one's mentioned it?

Also, what suburbs would I be searching for mountainous acerage?
 
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Also, what suburbs would I be searching for mountainous acerage?

On the Northern Beaches - anything west of the Captain Cook Hwy. I usually just do a map search and scan the suburbs that way. You'd be hard pressed finding something within your budget though as most of the places come with views and demand $$$ because of it. But... a lot of these places have some kind of dual living arrangement where it could be rented out for a bit of extra income.

I had this place in mind when I made my last post http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-qld-smithfield-119206467 but is dearer than I remembered. It's been on and off the market now for at least 3 years. When I first saw it loved it but it was too far from the boat ramp.... :rolleyes:
 
Cheers all. Much appreciated.

Well we've seen some really well priced houses just 10 minutes from Cairns in Hollaways Beach but some locals have been telling us that there's a new Casino planned for Cairns that might boost prices shortly. Does anyone know any more info?
 
Cheers all. Much appreciated.

Well we've seen some really well priced houses just 10 minutes from Cairns in Hollaways Beach but some locals have been telling us that there's a new Casino planned for Cairns that might boost prices shortly. Does anyone know any more info?

Ahhhh....didn't you say you wanted at least 2 acres???!!!

Only 1 property in Holloways that's 2 acres and it sold for like $800,000
 
Cmon Beachy, just slow down a little and read the part where I said we're very open. But good observation. price is very important because I'd like to remain relatively financially free. A nice house in the suburbs close to the beach sounds great! Plus the more we think about it, we're looking for lifestyle. it's a journey and just because we start looking for one thing doesn't mean it's what we really want. you llearn along the way
 
Aquis is the $8.1b mega resort planned for Yorkeys Knob but if it ever happens... Went to an Aquis event the other day with the project manager presenting to give the community an update of where it's at as there's been quite a bit of speculation but didn't really get any new information.

The EIS has been approved (in record time apparently) and now they're negotiating the casino agreement at a state level (no federal involvement). After that it's capital raising and then design. They said best case scenario is approval and start post wet season 2016. I'll believe it when I see it.

Before the end of last year there was even more speculation with Aquis as it was still in the EIS approval stage and people were holding off on selling their properties in the hopes that the whole thing was approved. This led to not much stock on the market on the northern beaches.

Then late last year there was set back with the development and the media reported that it wasn't going to go ahead and there seemed a bit of a reaction to that where I noticed in a short period of time there was a lot more stock on the market, whether this had anything to do with Aquis or not, can't say for sure but I suspect it did. Even still, prices have been holding steady and have even increased a bit since this time last year.

My opinion, if Aquis goes ahead then it will do good things for the Cairns economy, particularly in the short term and the property market will see decent growth in a short period of time as people will want to jump on the bandwagon. If Aquis doesn't go ahead, the fundamentals are still there for growth, it will just be more steady.
 
There are large blocks in rural settings in WHITE ROCK, Cairns. They are around 1-2 acres or larger, 8 minutes from Town and currently going through a growth Phase. They would also be on the cheaper end price wise. The area also has gone through beutifying due to the recent highway upgrade. The whole southside is having money poured into from the council plan and new town centre in Edmonton just down the road. Very interested to see where WHITE ROCK is heading from and investment perspective. Worth looking into, you wont get closer to the city with blocks that size on flat ground. Do your research though like any suburb.
 
I'd be a bit concerned with purchasing anything in the Edmonton vicinity which is mainly due to the Mt Peters land release which is (IIRC) 18,000 new dwellings to be constructed over a 25 year period which could lead to an oversupply of the market or keep prices down for a good while.
 
I'd be a bit concerned with purchasing anything in the Edmonton vicinity which is mainly due to the Mt Peters land release which is (IIRC) 18,000 new dwellings to be constructed over a 25 year period which could lead to an oversupply of the market or keep prices down for a good while.

Yes very true, totally forgot about that, and that is a lot of houses for one area! On the other hand they will all be mass development type H&L packages, blocks with larger land could do quite well in established areas. But yes be very mindful of that development when it gets going...
 
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