Luxury Waterfront Property in Cairns: What Buyers Need to Know About the Blue Water Harbour Canal Estate

Welcome to Property Mortgage Insights Australia 2025. I'm your host, Virginia Graham, a mortgage broker and today's topic is luxury properties in regional areas. Today I'm here with Jenna Shingles from FNQ Property Hot Property and we're going to talk about the canirs property market. But before I do, I'd like to welcome Jenna here. She does the luxury properties here in Cairns and if you're a person looking for a luxury property in this area, she's the person that you would go to.

So jet welcome Jenna. Thanks, Virginia. Yeah, so this is sort of a specialty area for us for FNQ Hot Property. We have gravitated towards this area because it's our favourite lifestyle arena for cairs. Cans has much to offer but we particularly like this Blue Water Harbour Canal estate because it offers the ability to have your boat out front of your home just at the end of a jetty and you can have deep water access out to the Coral Sea and beyond to the Great Barrier Reef.

So it's the only canalaate in Cairness. So it's definitely one of the places that we gravitate towards and it's our, the area that we specialize in. We've lived in here ourselves for 16 or 17 years now in a couple of different waterfront properties and we think that this is the best place to be in cas. It's a really nice place if you have a boat but also I think there's a lot of walks around here too. There's Earl Hill that you can walk up.

There's Half Moon beach which is a beautiful isolated beach which is where all the boats go out the headland before they go out to the ocean. And it's just a really nice place to live in terms of very. It's very quiet, isn't it? Yeah, it is, it's one, it's got the Blue Water Marina, it's got one sort of restaurant area and it's also very close to Cairns and it's halfway sor of between Cairness and Portt Douglas and it's got a shopping center that's five minutes away as well. So I mean it's got pretty much everything, doesn't it?

It does, yeah. And in addition to the walking tracks, it's also got great mountain bike riding as well behind Smithfield. That's quite a world class track up there behind James Cook University. So I know our son made use of that for years and heaps of kids around here do and also adults because it's, you know, Fantastic for fitness. And the bike rides you can do run out to Palm Cove and beyond as well.

And they're connecting up everything in Canons to make it more bike friendly. So yeah, it's got heaps of things going for it in addition to our beaches. So if you were not living can say you were living in another state and you were looking at sort of moving here in terms of more of a luxury lifestyle, what would you like? Would you live here full time or would you buy a house or. And go between the two or like what do people usually do?

You get a bit of both really. Sometimes we get people who just spend sort of six months of the year up here in their waterfront properties or apartments in Palm Cove or in town and enjoy the winter season up here, which is just spectacular and that's why we live here. But then, you know, go down for the southern summers. So yeah, we do have clients that have the best of both worlds in doing that. So that is brilliant.

But obviously if you've got family, kids at school and that sort of thing, which it is a, you know, it's a really great area for families to live here permanently. That's obviously what you do because we've also got some great schools around the area. Red lynch and in town and also in Trinity beach as well, so. And Trinity Park. So it's got something for everybody.

Yeah, I think it does. So if you were, how would the prices compare of like, is it because. Because if you're looking at the luxury of the market, how do the prices compare to other areas that you would live in if you were say, either happen as a second home or having as a primary home? Well, I think that the value is really quite good for a luxury property in Cannes. So when people are coming from Sydney or Melbourne, for example, if they're living in an equivalent area, it would be, you know, it would have a much higher value.

So I think when people do buy into the Canirs real estate market, they're getting real bang for their buck. Because waterfront in Sydney is like, you know, crazy prices. And whereas here it's quite achievable sort of on the waterfront here in the Canala state, you is sort of looking from 1.7 million up to about 5 million. So that's the sort of range. Whereas in, in Sydney or Melbourne you might be in an apartment for 1.7 million.

So ye with a glimpse of the water. Yeah, yeah. So I think up here, as far as having a permanent resident residence up here, I think that, yeah, the value is great. Really good. And what do investors.

What from an investor point of view, what are they doing up here? Like why would they buy here? Well, we have our property values have increased over the last few years. It was pretty stagnant for quite some time. But I do think that since COVID happened a few years back, 2020 really changed things for the values and has made the investment market up here a lot better, a lot more inviting because people recognize the value of the regional markets.

And this being one of our paradises in Australia, we certainly reap the benefit of that because I noticed before I moved up around that time before that the capital prices in this area, in the canirness area haven't changed in 30 years and then since then it's doubledeah. That's right. It'really stagnant and the GFC hurt. I think the region's got get hurt a little bit more when there's big global issues like that and economic downturn. However, now strength has come back.

So yeah, definitely it's changed from how it was before. So it has. It's benefited us. And what do you think are the driving forces in the that are now going forward for the market? Like do you think because I've heard some people say for example the Olympics because it's now Olympic city, that will help us.

What else do you think got is driving the capital prices here in the housing? I think that we do have limited housing availability basically where we're surrounded by hill. So there's only so much of CAs that can actually be built on. You know, there's more cane paddocks to be know transitioned into housing and that sort of thing. But we are really locked in here because of the hills and is really restricted ability.

It's not. You can't build into the hills anymore because of lots of regulations and that sort of thing. So yeah, so I think that that's what drives our potential for the future. And how do you determine the value of the properties within blueater? Like so if you're an investor and you're looking here or if you're for lifestyle looking at the luxury, what.

What things would you look for? Like what. What's the difference between a 1.7 million, 5 million property, for example? Like what's the difference in the actual property? Okay, so much like other properties, things start with the baseline of how many bedrooms, how many bathrooms, living spaces and that sort of thing and land size, so they're all the comparables.

But then with waterfront properties in the canal, you're looking at Meter each of waterfront. So in here, in this particular estate it sort of starts at about 12 meters being the smallest waterfront and about 40 metres being the broadest. So that is the big determining factor. So that is one part and then you've got the pontoon where you can put the boat out the front, the size of the bonoon. So they range from about 7 metres to 14 meters and beyond.

So that, that regulates what size boat you can have in front of the home. So that's one of the big determining factors as well. So that's why a lot of the end of key properties, so the streets are called keys, they tend to have a bit more value because they've got the broader waterfrontes and the ability to put a bigger boat on that ponoon. So yeah it really the boat size that can put out the front often determines who will buy the home. Yeah.

And the value of the hunt. And then yeah, because I've noticed that, that some of the houses here are very beautiful houses and two story, four bedrooms and have a pontoon and then another house will be pretty similar size looking and everything and it will be like double the price and you'll be like why is that one double that? Yeah, that's it. So that's what it comes down to. Often it's the size of the boat that you can put out the front and you know when people come to us and we often have people looking that, you know, they might see at home that they like but it's just not going to work for their boat.

And that's what it comes down to. Yeah, yeah. And then I think this is also a safe harbor, isn't it? It is, yes. So this was built to a category 5 cyclone, so to speak.

All of the homes are built to the rating that's required but this actual structure of this canal has a certain rating to it as well that is higher. So what it means in a practical sense is that when there is a cyclone you can keep your boat in front of your house because it's got a rating that allows that. However, if you had your boat in the Mar marina in Cairness or if you had it in the marina in Port Douglas or even your piss nooell boat club, you have to move your boat away from its birth and anchor in somewhere safe like up ANST3 or that sort of thing during cyclone. So that is one of the great things. It's a bit of a safe heyn.

Yeah, that was actually I didn't even know that but that's really interesting. Yeah. And then so what common challenges to buy and sellers of blue water properties face and how can all become them? Like what are the challenges? Yeah, so the challenges, I mean essentially I guess it's finding the home that's right for you that also accommodates the boat that you may have or wish to buy and also so you want.

There's the difference. You can buy a poantoon. Some of the properties have shared poantoons so that has an easement at the base of the jetty. So that's something to look for if you want to have exclusive use pontoon or a shared pontoon. That's something to be aware of.

And again that's really important to speak with a specialist about. So you sort of know what you're in for there. So that's one of the challenges I think is ye meeting the home expectation and the salize of boat and pontoon. It does matter a lot too with the pontoons because I didn't know because we'd never had anything to do with boats before we moved to. But it's not just the pontoon, it's the.

It's the distance from the center of the waterline as well as to where your boat can go. And we didn't realize that some people are allowed to put their boats on the side of their pontoons and some have to have them in the front because of where the waterline is compared to where your neighbour is. So there's like rules around where everything goes. Yeah, that's right, that's right. And it is, you know, it's a bit of a, you know, by agreement type situation too.

As long as nobody's complaining, everything's fine. So yeah, it is a bit of a wiggle. And again that's something where you need to be speaking to somebody who knows about the key minds for the sience of the property and that sort of thing. Yeah, and I know we've touched on this before but what do you think? Where do you see the market going in the next five to 10 years?

Well, it is a crystal ball kind of question. So that's. And I. Obviously we never hold you to anything just you personally. What do you think like's it?

Well obviously we believe in the area, we're invested in the area as well. So we think this is the best place to have your money invested in property. And the reason being is because the limited amount of properties that are available. So 150 properties on the water side and then approximately 80 properties on what we call the dry side. So the other side of the road again, beautiful properties and sort of going for about a million dollars and up mark now, which is great.

It's part of that growth that we've had. So we think that I guess the limited, for example, right now there's about two, three properties on the waterfront for sale. We know there's maybe one or two coming up off market and that's. Yeah, that's what determines the values we think moving forward is just the sheer limit of properties available. And I don't know who told me someone said that they weren't allowing canal developments anymore.

Is that right? Yes, as far as I understand. And you can never say never. However, for the last 16 years we've lived in here and we've watched a couple of canal states tried to get approved but they've been knocked back. And one of them was a very large Chinese developer wanting to tap into a waterway and an existing waterway and they just've knocked it on the head.

So the epa, the state government and the local government very strict about those rules now. So I did hear that even Australia wide it's. Yeah, they're pretty critical about this sort of development and sort of doing anything that's tapping into the natural waterways. So I think yeah, that's a good thing and that does bode well for the future. Again, keeping things very restricted and keeping the prices up.

So what advice would you give to buyers if they were looking at Blue Water Hour if they had never been here? Like do you think they should come? I'm not saying just that they should come, but what would be the best advice of like what things should they be looking for? Well, I guess the reality is if you have any interest in it whatsoever and maybe thinking for the future we might retire up here or that sort of thought. I would say getting to the market now because the reality is it is so restricted and we do feel that the pricees will just tick away and continue to get higher and higher.

So I would say to get in sooner rather than latere. Yeah, if you find the right property that suits you. Yeah. And I can say too from when u. I remember when I was looking here, um, in cans, in the cans region for properties and things.

I think you were the only agent that even called me back. Like a. A lot of people it's been so busy here that people don't even call you about. It's not a high pressure thing like telling when dner'telling you to look now rather than later. She's not saying that from like a pressure point of view it's just like it genuinely is a time to look at it if that's something you're interested in.

And also it is still much, much cheaper than if you bought it in Sydney or in Brisbane or the Gold coast or any of those places. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. The value is still here, but I think it will continue to go up. So.

And I think having a safe harbor in a cyclone area too is really important. Yeah, that's right. We've been here through a couple of cyclones, notably Cyclone Yassi in 2011 and you know, they had all sorts of doom and gloom concerns but it fared really well which was great. And even with. And you know, we should talk about the issue because people do ask these questions.

They're very important. And so we had cyclone Jasper last year which mainly caused flooding issues in the Cancer region. And in here there was very minimal damage with the flooding. So most of the retment wall is up high enough that there wasn't any, you know, very little anyway. There was a few homes that had little inundation because of the.

They were built down in the basement level and that sort of thing. So there's a little bit of that. But yeah, generally it was very safe. So we felt very well tested by cyclone Jasper. So it was good sort of one in 100 year event which we hope never see again.

No, it was a little bit scary but yeah, we fared very well, which is great. Canirs itself is in quite a dip and then you've got a few of the beach areas which are quite low lying and so they struggle. People would have seen that on the news and you know, flooding at Yorkyob and that sort of thing. So that's more your beach erosion and getting into those low lying older suburbs that haven't had new developments on them for years. And so they haven't been built to the requirement that the council has now.

So yeah. Okay, that's fantastic. You're welcome. Them.