I know nothing about Queensland – does anyone know much about Keswick Island? Would it be a good proposition or is it just a holiday island being retailed?
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I`ve lived in Qld for 30 years and have never heard of it!, shouldn`t be to hard to find out though.
There’s a Keswick Island off Mackay – is that the one you mean? There are two islands close together – St Bees and Keswick. As far as I know, there is nothing on the island but goats! I do seem to recall that someone had bought Keswick and was planning some sort of development. Perhaps contact the Mackay City Council for some info.
Regards
Shirleyyes it is the one I mean and yes it is definitely being developed with subdivisions and marinas etc all underway. Is being close to Mackay a good thing?
The blocks are around $200k and then you have to build on it…. not sure if thats a lot of money for a holiday home in the Whitsundays with water views. Would be cheap compared to what you get n WA for that sort of money, but depends how close the island is to major population centresMackay is quite a nice spot – grew up there. It’s a sugarcane growing district and I read recently that the property market there is very good. The cane industry isn’t doing too well just now which might have an effect on the area.
Hard to believe blocks on Keswick are selling for $200K – I remember sitting in a boat as a kid fishing off the island and watching the goats run all over place! The island is not far off the coast.
We did plan to invest in Mackay mid 2003 – drove there for a weekend to inspect/buy a duplex only to find someone had beaten us to it.
Best bet would be to do a search on the net to find out more info on the area.
Shirley
Ausprop
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I’ve just come back from Mackay last week (parents are cane farmers) and have seen the ads for Keswick Island. Be aware that reliable and easy access to the island is important – technically Keswick Island is not in the Whitsunday Island group (which are readily accessible via ferries from Airlie Beach/Shute Harbour, 1.5hrs drive north of Mackay). The access I saw for Keswick mentioned a 15 minute light aircraft flight. Not a big deal for owner/occupier maybe but as a renter could be a different story.
Classy beachfront/ocean view property is fetching nice money for a city with a population under 100k with a tight-ish economy.. struggling sugar industry. (The ads I’ve seen have ranged from 400k-1mil). It was interesting over Christmas to see the locals up there all abuzz with talk of property prices, 2 years after it hit us in Sydney, when previously it was never given a second thought.
I think there’s CG potential on Keswick but do your due diligence and check on the holiday/owner occupier side of things. Also have a look at Hamilton Island real estate (sorry can’t remember who the agency is) to give you a general ‘island’ land benchmark. Newish apartments there are going for about 350k++
Good luck, Mackay is a lovely area.
That’s my 2 cents!
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Cheers
KimOne thing to watch is that there is only one ferry going over to the island and the island owner runs it so he can charge what ever he wants which i’ve heard he’s been doin and the builders aren’t to happy about it just the talk around town.
Thanks Rob [
]Did some investigating myself on this island, and while it seems very attractive as an alternative lifestyle investment there are some areas of concern.
The Island has had a fairly chequered ownership history, and previous owners have struggled to get it where it is today – with a few roads, power and water supply (barged in) and communications.
I think the present lease holder took ownership in 2002, and from what I have found, does not seem to have made any improvements in infrastucture since taking over.
Even though most block buyers had to sign an undertaking to build within five years, there are only 7 houses on the island. Much of this is seems due to the lack of infrastructure to undertake building activities (accommodation, barge delivery facilities etc). Consequently it doesnt seem likely that the present leasholder will meet his obligations with respect to the lease conditions on provision of island developement carried out.
The latest release of land, which has no services provided yet, is accessed by a very rough dirt road. Conditions of purchase are 10% deposit with balance on release of land when infrastructure is completed. Looking at the history of infrasture built over the last 4 years, my personal opinion is this would be a very risky investment.
But as they say – caveat emptor !!
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