TEE OFF IN LUXURY ON THE PINES’ MOST EXCLUSIVE ADDRESS

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.

Australia’s housing crisis will not be solved by first-home buyer incentives or tax changes alone, with leading property figures warning governments must tackle supply constraints if affordability is to improve.

Speaking at the Kanebridge Quarterly Property Leadership Summit in Sydney last week, expert project marketing specialist Sam Elbanna, property investor and fund manager Paul Miron and property consultant Karla McNeice said that a lack of housing supply remained the central issue facing the market.

Elbanna, Director of CPM Realty with more than 30 years’ experience in project sales, argued that successive governments had focused too heavily on stimulating demand rather than addressing the barriers preventing new housing from being delivered.

“The misconception is that politicians think the way to solve the housing crisis is to drive demand,” he said.

“The reality is that’s not the way. This is a supply-side problem, and it needs to be solved on the supply side.”

Drawing on his experience in project sales, Elbanna said policies designed to help first-home buyers often had unintended consequences, pointing to previous grants that ultimately flowed through to higher property prices.

Instead, he said developers were facing increasing red tape, approval delays and rising costs, which were discouraging new housing supply.

“In the absence of stock, demand exceeds supply,” he said.

Miron, a Co-Founder and Fund Manager of Msquared Capital, said the housing debate had become overly focused on tax policy while overlooking broader structural issues.

He argued that affordability challenges stemmed from a combination of factors, including planning constraints, supply shortages, migration levels and interest rates.

“No-one can be 100 per cent certain on the real reason for property prices is going up,” he said.

“The reason why property prices are higher is a combination of interest rates, lack of supply, migration, vacancy rates and maybe taxes play a role.”

Miron was critical of recent federal housing policy changes, warning they could reduce the number of new homes being built and further constrain supply that was even highlighted in the budget.

He also highlighted the importance of the property sector to the broader economy, noting that residential real estate and related industries employed more than one million Australians.

McNeice, who advises developers on sales strategy and market intelligence, said understanding buyers had become increasingly important as affordability pressures intensified.

While affordability remained a major consideration, she said today’s buyers were focused on value rather than simply price.

“People are looking for value for money,” she said.

She said buyers were increasingly evaluating factors such as transport connections, walkability, nearby amenities and flexible living spaces that could accommodate changing family needs.

“What infrastructure is going on? Can I walk to the shops? Can I meet people at the local cafe?” she said.

The panel also discussed the mounting pressures facing developers, with Elbanna arguing that many projects become financially unviable from the moment a site is purchased.

“The viability of a development happens at the moment the site is bought,” he said.

He said rising construction costs, higher interest rates and overly optimistic feasibility assumptions had left some developers exposed as market conditions changed.

While acknowledging the growing number of smaller and first-time developers entering the market, Elbanna said property development required expertise across finance, construction, marketing and legal disciplines.

“It is actually a business that requires a level of expertise,” he said.

Looking ahead, the panel agreed opportunities remained in the market despite current challenges.

Miron said property should continue to be viewed as a long-term investment and cautioned against trying to time short-term market movements.

McNeice said success would increasingly depend on identifying projects that genuinely met changing buyer expectations.

Elbanna said affordable housing remained achievable, but developers needed to deliver more than just homes.

“We can provide affordable housing in this country,” he said.

“But we’ve got to wrap that affordable housing with the things that people want.”

As Australia’s housing affordability debate intensifies, the panellists agreed on one point: without a meaningful increase in housing supply, demand-side measures alone are unlikely to solve the nation’s property challenges.

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.

Australia’s housing affordability crisis is being fuelled by chronic undersupply, planning delays and rising development costs, as politicians continue to focus on the wrong solutions.