Cairns real estate: Sugarworld, Cutter’s Rise, Pinecrest subdivisions roar ahead
The city’s southside population boom is finally on the way with light speed land sales sparking a race against trade shortages, council delays and the looming wet season.
Cairns
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LIGHT SPEED land sales have developers battling trade shortages and the threat of council delays to get buyers into their dream homes.
The city’s southside population boom is finally on the way with subdivisions like Sugarworld Estate in Edmonton tearing ahead.
RE/MAX Cairns agent Udo Jattke – himself a former developer who built 3000 homes during his heyday – said he had never seen such an appetite for new property.
“I’m gobsmacked and so are the developers,” he said.
“We’re months ahead of where we should be. Stage 1 and 2 are all sold out – and we weren’t expecting to get to Stage 3 until March 2022.”
Multiple developers have voiced concerns that slow decisions within Cairns Regional Council’s planning department could create unnecessary speed bumps.
Still, it would take a monumental anchor to prevent this rocket ship from hitting orbit.
Cutter’s Rise sales agent Renee Straguszi said a civil contractor would be announced shortly to carry out major earthworks in the spacious Gordonvale estate.
“We’re at the tail-end now and just about ready to start,” she said.
In Mount Peter, crane operators have begun mounting parts of a prefabricated bridge to provide access to the first stage of Pinecrest estate, named Rocky Creek.
Property Shop sales and marketing director Ben Johnston was confident the first internal roads would be completed by December.
“There are people living in caravans who have sold their house and want to get started,” he said.
“Everything is on target.”
Key dates are contingent on the council processing applications and carrying out trunk infrastructure works.
Buyers’ finance and access to government incentives are tethered to strict timelines so any obstructions could cause considerable stress.
The city is also in the middle of a rental crisis with a vacancy rate of just 0.6 per cent, according to SQM Research.
It means the need for new homes has rarely been more critical – and the looming wet season adds another layer of urgency.
Council planning department general manager Martin Garred said statutory deadlines were being met and frequent and consistent communication with developers was maintained to fast-track works where possible.
“Council has a number of highly experienced team members across its planning department and also recently increased staffing levels in this department, reflecting the ongoing growth of development applications,” he said.
“It is important to recognise that the development process is a two-way system.
“Delays can be caused by poor quality or incomplete development applications, which is why council strongly encourages all applicants to provide well-made and highly considered development applications to support timely processing of matters.”
Trade and materials shortages are also cutting deep.
A spokesman for the city’s biggest builder, Kenfrost, said construction timelines had lengthened to 10-11 months with further delays possible if issues persisted – although a spike in apprenticeships boded well for the future.
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Originally published as Cairns real estate: Sugarworld, Cutter’s Rise, Pinecrest subdivisions roar ahead
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