Why is it so cheap at Russell island

Quite some years ago Russell Island was the centre of the largest fraud case in Aussie legal history. It was a number of real estaters (who else) that subdivided large areas of land and sold it, mainly, to buyers from interstate. Problem was, lots of it was underwater, or at least tidal. You can still see it on Google Earth. The fraud is said to have involved surveyors, people in council, other government departments, a whole host of dross. None of of these leeches were ever charged and some still live on the islands.
So, that tarnished the name of not just Russell but all of the southern Moreton bay islands. It also oversupplied the vacant land market by about five fold.
For years now, people have been trying to sell the better and more usable blocks of this land pretty much for what they can get. This, combined with the bad stigma of the fraud and the general incompetence of the real estaters on the island has managed to keep prices depressed. There were just a few positive signs starting to get some traction in 2007 then we get hit with the GFC which saw prices plummet and a lot of banks under-secutised and getting a bath. As a result, banks now have stricter lending rules on the bay islands to stop them getting their grubby little fingers burned again. All said, there is plenty of great properties on all of the islands at good prices right now. It will come back but only one real estate knows when, or so they keep telling people, just after they tell them the bridge is coming. Overall, Russell is great place to live and I for one, will be staying for a long time yet.
FD