It’s buyer beware in Australia’s croc country
Dreaming of a move to Queensland to escape the winter chill? Property in the far north comes with its own challenges
5 min
“A large crocodile has been spotted across the road from Warri Park Wetland (near Lakes Estate) today. The Department of Environment and Science has been notified. There will be a staff member at the site this afternoon to ensure student safety.”
This was the message posted on the Port Douglas primary school’s Facebook page in February this year. Just off the main road into town, the 2ha beauty spot is popular with dog walkers, bird watchers, joggers and kids playing after school. It’s also a desirable place to live, with about 50 homes circling the park. So why would anyone build family homes so close to a crocodile-infested swamp?
Put simply, they didn’t.
Despite having survived for an estimated 200 million years, the estuarine crocodile very nearly didn’t see out the 20th century.
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Unregulated hunting in the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s saw crocodile numbers drop by 95 percent, and by the ’70s they were critically endangered. Crocs were belatedly afforded protection, and since then the numbers have steadily risen back up to pre-hunting levels. Salties haven’t moved into our habitat — we moved into theirs, while they were away.
Soula Kazakis from Ray White Port Douglas (pictured) has been working this patch of real estate for the past two decades.
“Croc sightings in Warri Park don’t surprise me,” she says. “I’ve seen them there multiple times. The council is aware, and there’s a history of having traps in the lakes to catch them.”
Like many who live around Port Douglas, Kazakis has her own near-miss story. Back in 2015, on a sunny winter’s day, she was showing a family from Melbourne a house on a street that backs onto the lake.
“They asked me what was behind the house, so I took them for a walk,” she says. “Their four-year-old boy was running ahead of us, jumping and laughing. I was following behind with the parents, chatting all things real estate, when I looked up and saw a big croc sunbaking with its mouth open on the grassed area directly in the pathway of their child. I’ve never run so fast in high heels! I grabbed his arm, and he was airborne just in the nick of time. Needless to say, they didn’t buy in Port Douglas.”
Far North Queensland has been experiencing a property boom in the post-COVID era, with interstate buyers lured by the promise of a sea-change to year-round sunshine and greater value for money.
“I would say half the interstate buyers are aware of our wildlife and the other half oblivious,” says Kazakis. “Some are more paranoid than others and think crocs get into everyone’s backyard. But given the volume of migration we’ve seen to the Douglas Shire, I would say it’s not putting people off.”
Croc country begins just south of Gladstone and extends up the east coast and across Far North Queensland.
In the summer, during very high tides and periods of flooding, crocodiles move further upstream and may appear in areas where they’ve not been seen for decades.
On February 22 in Ingham, 113km north of Townsville, a 2.5 metre saltwater crocodile was sighted on a road behind a childcare centre in the CBD. The town’s mayor commented: “We don’t expect to come across crocodiles in the middle of our town, but what I am noticing is that the crocodiles are coming closer and closer to us.”
On January 23, a huge 3.9m saltwater crocodile was removed from the Barron River in the Cairns suburb of Caravonica and relocated to a nearby crocodile farm. (That came too late for the 40kg labrador taken from the adjoining footpath.)
On January 16, swimmers were asked to leave the netted area of Four Mile Beach in Port Douglas when a lifeguard spotted a small croc trying to get back out to the open ocean. On December 27 2022, residents of Blacks Beach in Mackay put up signs to warn the public of crocodiles after one was seen metres from dozens of homes.
“I’ll be giving that end of the beach a wide berth for a while,” said one local resident. “I want my puppy to reach his second birthday.”
As with sharks and other predators, there is lively debate between those who want to protect these awe-inspiring creatures, and those who think they should be culled. As our territories become ever-more entwined, the Queensland Crocodile Management Plan (QCMP) aims for a balanced approach between crocodile conservation and public safety. There are six zones (A to F) that apply throughout the state, and each zone has rules around when crocodiles are removed, based on their size, behaviour, location and proximity to urban populations.
Active Removal Zones are defined as ‘rivers, creeks and wetlands where crocodiles are frequently in close proximity to large urban populations’. All crocodiles in ARZs, regardless of size or behaviour, are targeted for removal. In total, the Department of Environment and Science (DES) removes about 50 ‘problem’ crocodiles a year, and most people are pretty OK with that.
“In the whole time I’ve been selling real estate, I’ve only come across one crocodile enthusiast,” says Kazakis. “That person ended up buying a house from me and getting a job at Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures near Palm Cove. She went from working at Myer in the big smoke to holding baby crocs and showing them off to the tourists. That was one very happy client.”
Meet the neighbours
Crocodiles are a fact of life in all far north waterways. A local agent will be able to tell you about any recent sightings in your favoured area, but at the end of the day, it’s buyer beware. If you’re wondering whether a pest inspection might cover you, the answer is “absolutely not”.
“No pest inspection will cover evidence of crocodiles,” says Chris Boswell, director of Arrow Building and Pest Inspection in Cairns. “And even if it did, it wouldn’t provide an option to withdraw from a sale, because a crocodile is neither a building defect nor a wood-destroying pest.”
Chris’s advice to anyone thinking about buying a home in croc territory?
“Don’t go in or near the water.”
To expand on that, the DES tips on being
crocwise in croc country are:
• Obey all crocodile warning signs.
• Never swim in water where crocodiles may live, even if there is no obvious warning sign.
• Stay at least five metres from the water’s edge.
• Don’t leave food, fish scraps or bait near the water.
• Be extra cautious at night, dusk and dawn when crocodiles are most active.
• Do not use kayaks, paddle boards and other small craft in and around crocodile habitat.
• Be extra vigilant during the breeding season, which runs from September to April.
• Keep dogs on a lead and away from the water’s edge.
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2 min
Australia’s retail property sector entered 2026 as the strongest performing commercial asset class, but rising geopolitical risks and cost pressures are beginning to test its resilience, according to new research from Knight Frank.
The latest Australian Retail Review shows the sector rode a wave of consumer spending and constrained supply through 2025, delivering total returns of 9.2 per cent and driving transaction volumes up 43 per cent year-on-year to $14.4 billion.
That momentum carried into early 2026, with around $3.6 billion in deals recorded in the first quarter alone.
“Retail clearly emerged as the standout commercial property performer in 2025,” said Knight Frank Senior Economist, Research & Consulting Alistair Read.
“Improving household spending, limited new supply and stronger leasing fundamentals combined to drive better income growth and renewed investor confidence in the sector.”
Spending rebound drives retail strength
A lift in household spending has been central to the sector’s performance. Consumer spending rose 4.6 per cent year-on-year to February 2026, supported by easing inflation and improving real incomes.
That shift flowed directly into retailer performance, with average EBIT margins across major retailers rising to 8.9 per cent in the first half of 2026, their strongest level in several years.
“Stronger consumer spending was critical in restoring momentum to the retail sector,” Mr Read said.
“Retailers have generally been better able to absorb costs, rebuild margins and support sustainable rental outcomes, particularly in higher-quality centres.”
Improved trading conditions also pushed leasing spreads up 4.2 per cent in 2025, reinforcing income growth and supporting capital values.
Geopolitical tensions begin to bite
But the outlook has become more complicated. The report warns that escalating conflict in the Middle East and its impact on fuel prices, supply chains and interest rates could weigh heavily on consumer spending.
“Higher fuel prices, flow-on cost pressures across supply chains, and recent interest rate increases are collectively squeezing household budgets, and early consumer sentiment data suggests confidence is already softening,” Mr Read said.
“While household balance sheets remain generally resilient, heightened uncertainty over future costs is likely to weigh on spending — particularly in discretionary categories — in the months ahead.”
The impact is already being felt in investment activity. While the year began strongly, transaction volumes slowed in March as investors paused amid the uncertainty.
“Early indicators suggest elevated uncertainty has already begun to affect the market. While retail investment enjoyed its strongest start to a year in a decade, with nearly $3 billion transacted by the end of February, activity stalled in March, as investors took a pause amid elevated uncertainty,” Mr Read said.
Solid foundations support medium-term outlook
Despite the near-term headwinds, Knight Frank maintains that the sector’s underlying fundamentals remain strong. Limited new supply, high construction costs and population growth are expected to continue supporting rental growth over the medium term.
“Retail has entered this period of uncertainty from a position of strength,” Mr Read said.
“Supply-side constraints, population growth and improving income fundamentals remain powerful structural supports for the sector.”
The report highlights several trends shaping the year ahead, including steady yields as interest rates rise, mounting pressure on tenant margins, continued outperformance of prime centres, the growing need for logistics integration, and risks linked to underinvestment in capital expenditure.
For now, retail remains a sector with momentum, but one increasingly at the mercy of forces far beyond the shopping centre.
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