This week’s winner – 3 Endeavour Road, Magnetic Island
Have you ever dreamt of living on a tropical island off the coast of Queensland?
It may become as no surprise to you then that many people have thought about this dream too.
Some have taken decisive action – and even now as we speak – are living the dream while others, happy to visit and make it a regular holiday get away, have put the dream into the too hard basket because it is unaffordable or out of circumstantial reach.
Well, not the excited buyers of 3 Endeavour Road at Arcadia on Magnetic Island.
The adventurous couple has broken conventional wisdom and taken a risk for their dreams. And the price is astonishingly cheap at $520,000. Compared to where they come from in the most expensive City in Australia, where Sydney’s median house prices are close to one million dollars, the acquisition of this tropical getaway home is a real bargain in anyone’s language.
Put it down to serendipity, whatever fate may bring, the Sydney couple were visiting Townsville and Magnetic Island on their winter holidays.
It is a time in Townsville where the region comes alive under perfect cool blue skies to cheer on the V8 Supercars. Thousands of tourists are visiting the City for the events, rich history and family connections and, of course for southern friends tolerating the layers of clothing, the glorious warm winter climate.
Townsville city claps on an amazing array of events in addition to the annual supercars such as the Townsville Cultural Fest, the week-long Australian Festival of Chamber Music, or while just strolling along the local Strand beach, we get to admire the abstract curiosity of the free Strand Ephemera art exhibition.
The capital of North Queensland is the home of the NQ Cowboys, 2015 Premiers, and the lovable rugby league great, Jonathon Thurston.
While in Townsville, the couple decided to take the 12 kilometre ferry ride across to Magnetic Island. Well, that is now history as they fell in love again, buying this cute 5 bedroom, 2 bathrooms with 3 carport bungalow cottage.
Magnetic Island has attracted explorers and buyers from overseas and southern states for many years. It seems the warm winter months, just as magnetic as the island itself, becomes the friend of Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and New South Wales this time of year.
Once born only of an inspiration to think, the lovely couple decided to escape the winter blues and venture north to discover Queensland’s only residentially populated Tropical Island and realise the inspiration of the warm North Queensland sun for themselves.
And what a great decision the Sydney couple made. As far back as 1770 when Capitan James Cook discovered the island, people have been attracted to the magnetism of the 52sq kilometre island with its national park and urban appeal for over 2000 permanent residents.
The island was named by Her Majesty’s Captain James Cook, because of the “magnetic” effect the mountainous island had on his ship’s compass, the HMS Endeavour. The residents fondly named the island “Maggie”.
The island is located on the door step to the world heritage Great Barrier Reef, and as the island sites within eye shot of the humpback whales tracking on their annual migration off the coast, the couple becomes intimately appraised of the true value the lifestyle asset presented before them.
Magnetic Island’s Compass Property agent, Cindy Shafer said: “the lovely Sydney couple were on holidays and loved the island so much they decided to buy a piece of it”.
“The house was built in the 1950s so it is very solid and functional for families and guests, with plenty of land to work with too.” Ms. Shafer said.
The property
The local Magnetic Island resident and property consultant, who was very busy serving holiday letting customers and clients when TREN caught up with her, commented that “the property presented an amazing opportunity to buy a massive block of land with an incredible home in just the best location.”
“Arcadia is home to many of the most beautiful island homes but none more so than this spacious and tropical property set on 2024m2 of prime real estate.
“Some of the wonderful features include:-
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| Image: Kitchen at 3 Endeavour Road Arcadia Magnetic Island off Townsville North Queensland Photo: Compass Property |
- Inspiring central roofed outdoor living area that links the whole home
- Beautiful and huge new kitchen including induction stove, central island cooking, seating as well as a plenty of cupboard and drawer space
- Five bedrooms, three of which are extra large
- Awning windows, glass louvers and large glass sliding doors that make the home light and breezy
- Massive shed and garage, big enough for all the boy toys you could wish for
“This property is undoubtedly a fantastic family home that is large enough for everyone to enjoy their own space and still be very much connected with family.
“On the other hand, this property was successfully used for a great many years as a ‘semi BnB’ or ‘Air BnB’. The home really has two distinct ‘wings’ alongside a communal (outside) dining area to relax with a shared kitchen.
“It is certainly what dreams are made of. This house would very likely be able to accommodate yours. Instead of talking or reading about it, how about you call me and make a time to view. This property is full of possibilities! Ms. Shafer said.
Investment profile
Magnetic Island and Townsville have attracted the attention of local and southern investors as the region has featured in the media recently as one of the top 10 most attractive places to invest in Australia.
TREN’s research has identified that the suburb of Magnetic Island is a retiree’s haven and very popular for people looking for the perfect sea-change lifestyle.
The island population has 2335 residents recorded in the 2016 census. Since the 2011 census, Magnetic Island had a population of 2199 residents which demonstrates the suburb has grown by 5.9 percent in five years.
The sales volumes and rental yield data for Magnetic Island has inadequate sample to determine median prices for investors. However, the 2016 census recorded that the median rental price was $250 per week for long-term rentals.
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| Image: Google Map of 3 Endeavour Road Arcadia Magnetic Island off Townsville North Queensland Photo: Google maps |
Holiday letting is the most popular accommodation service on the island. Compass Property who brokers holiday, rentals and sales on the island, estimate the current occupancy rate is currently 75-80 percent. Over the past 3 years, occupancy rates have increased as more tourist visitors have arrived in the Townsville region. In the less popular autumn and spring seasons, occupancy rates have reached 30-40 percent.
The suburb has a relatively high percentage of short-term holiday accommodation. In fact, 79.7 percent of houses are separate dwellings while 12.3 percent are units or apartments. A total of 1821 private dwellings exists in the suburb.
31.5 percent of the dwellings were unoccupied at the time of the 2016 census, which highlights the number of vacant rentals, unoccupied private holiday homes and transient population working and living on the island that has dual residency on the mainland at Townsville.
The number of rental dwellings is approximately 36 percent of the total dwellings on the island. 58 percent are private dwellings and 35 percent are owned outright.
Nearly 60 percent of the population declared no income. For those residents that are earning an income, 34.5 percent earn less than $650 per week. 11.2 percent of the island is children under the age of 15 years which may suggest the high number of self-retirees living on the island. In fact, 67.1 percent of the island is older or elderly independent singles, elderly couples or old couples with families.
Nearly 17 percent of adults are divorced which is 8 percent higher than the Australian average. The residents do 7 percent more voluntary work than the Australian average and contribute longer hours also.
The island suburb has nearly 15 percent higher percentage of single person households than the Australian average. The median mortgage repayment for home owners is $1387 per month approximately $430 less than the Australian median.
The island has one primary school, Magnetic Island State School which is approximately 1.7 kilometres from this property.
Townsville has excellent private and public schools, which is approximately 12 kilometres by ferry from the island to the ferry terminal at Ross Creek. Townsville has a higher percentage of children attending Catholic and Anglican schools than the Australia average and boasts the top marine biology university in the world at James Cook University.
History
Magnetic Island has Australian historical significance from the deep indigenous heritage to the modern European settlement that occurred late in the 19th century when a resort was built at Picnic Bay by Robert Hayles Sn in 1890.
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| Image: Patio at 3 Endeavour Road Arcadia Magnetic Island off Townsville North Queensland Photo: Compass Property |
The Bindal people, local aboriginal inhabitants of the area called the island Yunbenun. The aboriginal people were transients to the island, travelling between the mainland and the island in canoes. Other tribes that transient the area were; the Bindal, Nyawaygi and Gugu-Badhun peoples.
Magnetic Island has a number of Aboriginal middens and cave drawings still visible in some of the bays of the island. The local elders on the mainland tell in folk law stories the history of the island, painting a picture of head hunters from Papua New Guinea and the Torres Straits reaching the island. The northern aboriginal people were known to use the northern head winds to travel south down the Queensland coast hunting, fishing and trading.
Capitan James Cook discovered the island in 1770 while navigating the Australian coast and gave the island its name, due to the “magnetic” effect the island had on his compass.
European tourists visited the island before settling as a popular place to collect stones and corals. But the first European to set foot on the island was James Morril, a shipwrecked sailor who lived with the local Bindal tribe.
In 1875, the island was gazetted as a quarantine station which was eventually completed at West Point ten years later. It was destroyed by cyclones and moved to Cape Pallarenda where some of the buildings have been preserved.
From 1901, Mr. Robert Hayles started a regular ferry service to the island until the 1970s.
The island became a defensive post during World War II as Townsville was an important military base, as it still is today, being the largest garrison city in Australia. An artillery battery and observation post, Magnetic battery, was built at Florence, Horseshoe and Arthur Bays on the island.
The resort built by Mr. Hayles Sn at Picnic Bay was commandeered for the war effort in 1939. After the war, the residents continued to reside on the island.
In 1971, Cyclone Althea impacted the island and mainland directly causing 90 percent of the houses on the island to be destroyed. The event was catastrophic as it caused the SS Yongala to sink off the coast killing 100 people at the time, and as it now sits as a monument and one of the most highly rated professional dive sites in the world.
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