In the market for golf course real estate? Ever dreamed of living on the links? Here's a snapshot of what it's likely to cost in 2013.
Click here for detailed State by State listings of developments across Australia
The Australian Newspaper reviewed real estate pricing for golf course homes throughout the country in April 2013 and concluded that value for money varies from state to state and tends to rise with the temperature. Places in Queensland can come in at a higher price than those further south, but not always - Victoria is the dearest of all.
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Oddly enough, Tasmania is the only state without residential golf developments, even though it has two of Australia's best golf courses, Barnbougle Dunes and Lost Farm just outside the north eastern town of Bridport which, although not having on-course housing, offers properties with views of the courses and along Waterhouse Beach and Flinders Island. Bridport property is very affordable. A comfortable old beach house might fetch less than $300,000.
By state, the next most affordable is South Australia.
Two options on the Fleurieu Peninsula are Links Lady Bay and the Fleurieu at Mount Compass.
At Links Lady Bay, you can buy a two-bedroom house for $200,000 and one fronting the course for $250,000, although there’s a six-bedroom home for sale for $1.2 million.
At Fleurieu, prices for modern, four-bedroom frontage houses begin in the high $300,000s,
Prices are also fairly affordable in Western Australia, but that might change as its property market takes off.
At one of the best courses in the west, the 27-hole Joondalup, an entry-level home costs about $450,000, a three-bedroom townhouse with a course frontage is in the low $500,000s, and a "monster of a 400sqm house" is there for $2.2m.
A three-bedroom, two-bathroom, two-year-old house with high ceilings and balcony views of the course sold for $610,000
A three-bedroom, two-bathroom non-frontage home at The Vines, 27km northeast of Perth, sold seven years ago for $250,000. It is now worth more than $620,000.
Having a frontage would add about $50,000, but there are massive houses there worth upwards of $7m.
NSW is next in terms of affordability, although some of the newer developments in greater Sydney are dear; if you want something affordable, three developments near Newcastle are promising.
Pacific Dunes, near Medowie, has entry-level homes for about $400,000 and rise to a figure still well under $1m. Frontage blocks start from $239,000.
An average four-bedroom non-frontage house costs between $450,000 and $650,000.
60 per cent of buyers are retirees, but the other 40 per cent are younger families and the three main reasons for buying are golf, secure gated living and landscaped rather than suburban outlooks.
A big 10-year-old, four-bedroom, four-bathroom frontage house in Sandpiper Avenue is available for sale for $850,000.
At Horizons in Salamander Bay, Port Stephens, house prices start at about $450,000 and rise to about $900,000.
The Vintage is a Greg-Norman designed course at Rothbury in the NSW Hunter Valley. It has eight residential precincts and owners have access to the club's pool, spa, tennis courts and gym and its extensive parklands. Blocks range from $169,000 to $450,000 and houses from $585,000 to $1.5m. There is no especial demographic, the youngest buyer being 19, the oldest 84, and they come for golf, beauty and community. As a bonus, the grape vines provide "a visual reminder of the seasons". A five-bedroom, four-bathroom house, with three separate living areas, a media room and pool that backs on to parkland, is for sale for about $1m.
If you have plenty to spend on golf-course living, the choice is between Victoria, which has several top-10 courses, or Queensland, where the acclaimed Brookwater, in outer Brisbane, won't leave much change from $1m.
The most popular of Queensland's golfing developments are the Gold Coast's Sanctuary Cove and the Sunshine Coast's Pelican Waters, although there are many in Queensland with varying prices.
At Pelican Waters, for instance, even a four-bedroom apartment costs $650,000, and a four-bedroom golf frontage house close to $1m.
At Royal Pines, also on the Gold Coast, similar frontage houses cost $1.1m, and it's $695,000 for a frontage block. Double that for Sanctuary Cove.
Victoria's golf courses are dearer still. The price of an average house fronting Royal Melbourne is about $1.4m, and even a bit more at Victoria although a four-bedroom plus study, two-storey house that backs on to Kingswood is for sale for a bit under $800,000.
The problem is, these places just don't come up for sale. There has not been a sale at Royal Melbourne for two or three years.
It's less costly at a clutch of courses on the Mornington Peninsula, though you'd still do well to have about $1m in hand, although entry-level, off-course houses might be got for $650,000. On-course homes cost $750,000 to $950,000, and the top price, at, say Moonah Links is about $1.2m. It's a far cry from Bridport prices.
Click here for State by State listings of developments across Australia
For golf course - real estate advice please email realestate@ausgolf.com.au.