CHRISTMAS COMES EARLY

Long-awaited southern influx to get market travelling in right direction

IT’S been a long time coming, but barring any bad news in the next few days, we’ll be welcoming back our southern neighbours from Victoria as well as the metropolis that is Sydney this coming week.

And what a welcome it will be! After toughing it out over the past months on local demand alone, Cairns will finally get to see interstate travellers make an impact on our local businesses – which, if other tourist destinations are anything to go by, should be a very happy early Christmas present for operators.

Beyond the benefits of having bums on seats and spending in stores, this opening up is also likely to see us hit with a new wave of property purchasers eager to find new homes – or at least a bolthole – somewhere bright, sunny and lockdown-free.

Now wait a minute, haven’t real estate agents been talking about these buyers for months? That’s old news!

Well, yes and no. While the past few months have seen strong inquiry from this style of buyer, homes inspected via Zoom/Facebook/FaceTime and contracts signed sight unseen, this kind of activity has remained the exception, not the norm.

Technology has come a long way but most people spending half a million or more like to get a sense of a place before they sign on the dotted line; that is, to see, to touch and to experience it. Until now, they haven’t had that opportunity so now that those gates are open … well, let’s just say I’d expect to get a lot more calls that go along the lines of: “My plane lands early morning, so what time can I see the property?”

Aside from the potential boost to pricing that comes with increased competition, the big change we are likely to see here is to our timing.

The general consensus with real estate in Cairns over the years has been that November is a cracker month, as everyone works to a Christmas decision-making and house moving deadline. Early December then follows to clean up the leftovers, and somewhere around midDecember everyone takes a break for a few weeks.

But throw into that mix a determined pool of buyers who can’t even look at property until the first week of December and are champing at the bit to make a decision. That’s a whole lot of opportunity for a home seller to think about – so give your preferred agent a call now.