Island for sale for less than Sydney, Melbourne home
Forget owning your own home, why not buy an island instead?
An island near Canberra has been put up for sale and is on the market for less than the average house in some Australian capital cities.
Wade Island, about 90 minutes from Canberra, near Wee Jasper on Lake Burrinjuck, is on sale for between $600,000 and $650,000. A realestate.com.au listing spruiks it as a purchase that could “completely change your life”.
“You get the privacy that you would expect in remote parts of the world, with fabulous restaurants and local amenities just down the road,” the listing says.
The 227-acre island, is a 3.5 hour drive from Sydney. The remote island is mainly accessed by boat as a land bridge only forms when the tide is low. But there is a restaurant at a homestead just a short drive away.
According to the listing, activities on Wade Island include fishing, hiking, caving and water sports.
It failed to sell at an auction earlier this month but can be snatched up for cheaper than an average house in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra.
According to Domain’s State of the Market report from September 2017, the average house price in Sydney was about $1.2 million.
In Melbourne, the average house price was recorded as $880,000 and about $724,000 in Canberra.
According to the listing, the island’s current owners had planned to build cabins and turn it into a holiday destination.
Allhomes.com.au reports the current owners bought the island for $485,000 more than 12 years ago.
LJ Hooker Dickson agent Nic Salter-Harding told allhomes.com.au a number of people had expressed an interest in the island, with most wanting to establish it as a tourist area.
However one interested party said they wanted to turn it into a koala sanctuary and a wagyu beef farmer said he wanted to buy the island for his cows so they were not poached.
