World’s cheapest island put to test

DOES a chance to buy your own island in the picturesque Sandy Strait for less than $200,000 still sound a little far fetched? We put the island to the test.

Celebrity Island owners

Celebrities who own/have owned their own Island paradise include…

Webber buys a $5m pit stop

FOR work he travels at top speed in a car worth millions of dollars.

For sale: Coast medieval castle

YOU don’t have to be Kate Middleton to live in a castle …

Consumers not fixing rate

HOME owners are showing little interest in switching to fixed interest rate mortgages despite the varying outlooks of the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Noel’s big $3.5m win

WOULD $3.5 million make a difference? All the difference in the world, if you ask well-liked Gympie smash repairer Noel Atkinson.

Paradise yours for a cool $675,000

PROSPECTIVE home buyers looking for their slice of paradise can snap up one of eight remaining vacant blocks in the seaside town of Seventeen Seventy.

Qld home builder goes to the wall

THE demise of long-established company Queensland Home Builders is a further indication that the sector is yet to emerge from its prolonged slump.

Gladstone homes hottest in country

GLADSTONE has been nominated as the hottest property market in the country by real estate agents, property developers, investors and owners.

Home could be sold for $2 million

THE five-bedroom Queenslander high on The Range could set a $2 million-plus house sale record for Rockhampton.

Aussies dream of beachside retreat

LIVING by the beach – at least part of the time – is one of the dreams of most Australians, according to a real estate survey.

Bargain of the century

FIFTEEN thousand dollars doesn’t buy you much these days, but in Goomeri it gets you a block of land.

Property sales hit by disasters

DISRUPTIONS caused by natural disasters and low sales volumes have resulted in soft market conditions across the Australian capital cities.

Want to buy your own pub?

THE historic Royal Hotel in Harrisville will go under the hammer tomorrow.

Coast land prices top nation

THE Sunshine Coast now has the most expensive land in the country and sales are suffering.

Developer group hits at charges

NSW councils have come under fire from a developer lobby group for putting the economy at risk through planning red tape and excessive charges on new homes.

Rainforest saved with $23m buy-up

A GROUP that bought up parts of the Daintree rainforest to protect it from development has now saved $23 million worth of Tasmanian forest.

See Australia’s biggest prize home

RAINBOW Bay is the location for Australia’s biggest ever prize home, with the BoysTown charity lottery announcing a $2.5 million prize package.

Pair fined over property sales

A NEW Zealand couple that sold investment properties to Queensland residents has been hit with fines totalling $100,000 after being found guilty.

Mayor voices street name distaste

IF Mayor Peter Taylor had his way, the street names used in one of Toowoomba’s more “bubbly” estates would be corked, shelved and allowed to age forever.

Underwater habitat not so fanciful

A NORTHERN NSW company is working with inventor Shaun Waterford to create a prototype structure of an underwater habitat.

Green Planet: eco ideas, sustainable stuff

Hemp home a fine joint

WHEN Graham Sippo and Patricia Schmidt finish their home at Billen Cliffs Village it will be one fine joint – and the first Australian home made from hemp.

Nothing square about these pods

THINKING outside the box has created an innovative room-in-a-box concept set to revolutionise the building industry.

$10m+ sale for historic homestead

THE historic “North Toolburra” property has sold for more than $10 million.

Hanson wants $2.15m for homestead

THE house that Hanson built is now officially on the open market for $2.15 million.

Gap widens for housing have-nots

QUEENSLAND is only building one new home for every four new residents, creating a serious housing shortfall.

Fraser’s sale of the century

THE FRASER Coast’s sale of the century is on, with news that Kingfisher Bay Resort and Eurong Beach Resort are up for sale.

Developers stall koala laws

KOALA protection legislation, due to come into effect last Friday, has been delayed because developers were unhappy, says the Australian Koala Foundation.

Toogoom island sold

AN island off Toogoom rumoured to be worth $7 million has been sold.

Hotel changes to start soon

THE face of the Emerald CBD is set for further changes, with work to get underway on the Leichhardt Hotel.

Property passed in but $8m seals deal

A BID of $7.7 million failed to meet the reserve price on a prime Central Queensland cattle property at auction yesterday, although it came close.

Finding the perfect house

SELLING up and moving on can be an exciting time – maybe the family has left the nest and it’s time to downsize or maybe your family is still growing.

Emerald records big rise in property sales

EMERALD’S real estate market defied economic doom and gloom last financial quarter with average house sales rising by almost 6%.

Mine town home values could drop in wake of slump

THE full effects of the plummeting coal prices and subsequent job losses on the region’s property market are yet to be felt, according to one senior valuer.

Fears first home grants scheme ending too soon

NICK BODLEY has been saving up his hard-earned pennies and is now planning to buy his first home.