Cairns market bucking trend
Property prices still on the rise
THE southern buyer frenzy for Far North property is abating but the market in Cairns is defying national movements and trending upwards.
While the latest PropTrack report shows dips in median prices in some suburbs in the past three months, Cairns has experienced a 9.87 per cent median price increase over 12 months.
House prices in Brisbane are expected to fall by 15 per cent, the Sunshine Coast has dropped by 7.1 per cent, and the Gold Coast by 6.4 per cent – but Cairns is bucking the trend.
The median price of a house in Cairns right now is $561,053 after an eye-watering two-year period of growth off the back of a long period of stagnation.
Five years ago the median was $401,000.
Three years ago it was $420,000 – then things really took off, with southern buyers snapping up property sight unseen during Covid lockdowns.
An example of the price rise is 3 Ellie Banning Close at Redlynch, which sold for $476,000 four years ago – and changed hands again for $725,000 in October.
RE/MAX owner and broker Ray Murphy said prices were stabilising but he did not envisage a drop.
“There is not the frenzy now that there was from southern buyers, but there is still an influx of people from down south relocating here,” Mr Murphy said.
“Maybe there aren’t as many buyers around, but I am not seeing things drop.”
He said the auction market was particularly strong.
And median figures can be deceptive, depending on the number of properties sold, and their price bracket.
The median price of a unit in Cairns is $399,000 – a 6.7 per cent drop over three months.
But dig deeper and that figure isn’t representative.
The median price for a onebedroom unit is $205,000, two bedrooms is $425,000 and three bedrooms is $640,000.
Ray White Cairns Beaches auctioneer Paul Stirling said figures could be distorted.
“We had a record month last month and we are still getting record prices for a number of properties,” Mr Stirling said.
“I think we are not racing ahead like we were, but we’re not seeing any downward movement, because the rental situation is critical, there’s not that much land around and building costs are high.
“Buying sight unseen is infrequent now, people can jump on a plane and come to an auction – we had three auctions last week and all sold,” he said.
He gave the example of a smartly renovated four-bedroom home at 6 Magnolia St, Holloways Beach.
The vendors received prior offers of $670,000 and $675,000 but stuck to their guns and sold the property under the hammer for $748,000. “There were six or seven registered bidders,” Mr Stirling said.