TEE OFF IN LUXURY ON THE PINES’ MOST EXCLUSIVE ADDRESS
This luxury Sanctuary Cove estate offers prime fairway frontage beside Australia’s only Arnold Palmer-designed golf course.
2 min
Golf connoisseurs with a love of architecture can hit a hole in one with this palatial estate in the exclusive Masters Enclave gated community.
The sprawling 1798sq m Sanctuary Cove property was recognised as one of Queensland’s Top 50 Amazing Homes in 2023 by The Courier Mail and sits alongside the country’s only Arnold Palmer-designed golf course, The Pines.
Recognised as one of Australia’s best and most challenging courses, The Pines is a 101ha 18-hole course within an established pine forest. With eight man-made lakes, it is home to an abundance of native wildlife, including rare birds and plenty of kangaroos.
“When I think of great golf in Australia, I think of The Pines at Sanctuary Cove, a true test of the game,” pro-golfer Adam Scott has said of the famous green.
Listed with Matt Gates of Ray White Sanctuary Cove, the modern mansion is on the market via private treaty sale with a price guide of $8.495 million. The property last sold in 2022 for $6.6 million according to title records.
Prior to that exchange, the designer home had been the glamorous weekender of retired telco executive and one-time local Bentley and Rolls-Royce dealer, David Baird, and his wife, Marion. They purchased the home, which fronts the 14th and 15th fairways, for $6.5 million in 2018.
A single-level residence, the four-bedroom house has a palatial 900sq m of living space and benefits from an extraordinary 80m of uninterrupted fairway frontage, giving the owners a prime position to enjoy the member-only course.
Meticulously curated to appeal to a design-savvy buyer, the house has multiple living and entertaining zones which all open up to the great outdoors and the unrivalled view of the green.
There are six defined alfresco spaces throughout the property, including an outdoor bar and spa terrace, a courtyard pavilion with fire pit, a beverage hub and bespoke seating. A vast pool and its adjoining spa also overlook the lush green of the fairway.
Inside, there are ample places to retreat to, such as the relaxed sunken lounge, as well as the media room for movie nights, and an executive-style office with integrated cabinetry.
Built for the great entertainer, the sleek contemporary kitchen is complemented by rich timber finishes, black subway tiles, a long eat-at island bench, plus a full butler’s pantry and state-of-the-art appliances.
Each of the bedrooms has an ensuite, including a separate guest suite, and the spacious main is a private pavilion retreat in itself with a five-star hotel-inspired bathroom featuring a freestanding tub and a grand dressing room.
The Masters Enclave estate has cutting-edge home automation, a four-car garage with a workshop and an essential golf buggy bay.
In addition to a world-renowned golf course right on the doorstep, residents within the secure community also have easy access to a marina, waterside cafes and designer boutiques.
The estate has the convenience of 24-hour security, land and water patrols, medical emergency response, and alarm monitoring.
Matt Gates of Ray White Sanctuary Cove is listing the Masters Enclave residence with a price guide of $8.495 million.
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The 2026 McGrath Report warns that without urgent reforms to planning, infrastructure and construction, housing affordability will continue to slip beyond reach for most Australians.
3 min
Australia’s housing market has reached a critical juncture, with home ownership and rental affordability deteriorating to their worst levels in decades, according to the McGrath Report 2026.
The annual analysis from real estate entrepreneur John McGrath paints a sobering picture of a nation where even the “lucky country” has run out of luck — or at least, out of homes.
New borrowers are now spending half their household income servicing loans, while renters are devoting one-third of their earnings to rent.
The time needed to save a 20 per cent deposit has stretched beyond ten years, and the home price-to-income ratio has climbed to eight times. “These aren’t just statistics,” McGrath writes. “They represent real people and real pain.”
McGrath argues that the root cause of Australia’s housing crisis is not a shortage of land, but a shortage of accessibility and deliverable stock.
“Over half our population has squeezed into just three cities, creating price pressure and rising density in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane while vast developable land sits disconnected from essential infrastructure,” he says.
The report identifies three faltering pillars — supply, affordability and construction viability — as the drivers of instability in the current market.
Developers across the country, McGrath notes, are “unable to make the numbers work” due to labour shortages and soaring construction costs.
In many trades, shortages have doubled or tripled, and build costs have surged by more than 30 per cent, stalling thousands of projects.
Need for systemic reform
McGrath’s prescription is clear: the only real solution lies in increasing supply through systemic reform. “We need to streamline development processes, reduce approval timeframes and provide better infrastructure to free up the options and provide more choice for everyone on where they live,” he says.
The 2026 edition of the report also points to promising trends in policy and innovation. Across several states, governments are prioritising higher-density development near transport hubs and repurposing government-owned land with existing infrastructure.
Build-to-rent models are expanding, and planning reforms are gaining traction. McGrath notes that while these steps are encouraging, they must be accelerated and supported by new construction methods if Australia is to meet demand.
One of the report’s key opportunities lies in prefabrication and modular design. “Prefabricated homes can be completed in 10–12 weeks compared to 18 months for a traditional house, saving time and money for everyone involved,” McGrath says.
The report suggests that modular and 3D-printed housing could play a significant role in addressing shortages while setting a new global benchmark for speed, cost and quality in residential construction.
Intelligent homes
In a section titled Weathering the Future: The Power of Smart Design, the report emphasises that sustainable and intelligent home design is no longer aspirational but essential.
It highlights new technologies that reduce energy use, improve thermal efficiency, and make homes more resilient to climate risks.
“There’s no reason why Australia shouldn’t be a world leader in innovative design and construction — and many reasons why we should be,” McGrath writes.
Despite the challenges, the tone of the 2026 McGrath Report is one of cautious optimism. Demand is expected to stabilise at around 175,000 households per year from 2026, and construction cost growth is finally slowing. Governments are also showing a greater willingness to reform outdated planning frameworks.
McGrath concludes that the path forward requires bold decisions and collaboration between all levels of government and industry.
“Australia has the land, demand and capability,” he says. “What we need now is the will to implement supply-focused solutions that address root causes rather than symptoms.”
“Only then,” he adds, “can we turn the dream of home ownership back into something more than a dream.”
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