Southerners warm to tropical affordability
A LARGE house with a swimming pool and deck was once a pipe dream for Sky and Elliot Quinn, former Sydneysiders turned proud Brinsmead homeowners.
The couple is among the many southerners taking advantage of Cairns’ famous life- style and affordable housing.
Mr and Mrs Quinn and their two children, Sienna and Brodie, moved to the Far North in late 2015 after being priced out of Sydney’s property market.
“We were renting at Dee Why near Manly for about 15 years, and it was just beautiful,” said Mrs Quinn, a beauty therapist.
“But, realistically, to buy a three-bedroom house would cost you about $1.6 million.
“We had toyed with the idea, but it was really above and beyond our means.”
Her husband, a pilot, had been doing some work in Cairns and they eventually decided a move to Tropical Queensland was the best option.
Mr and Mrs Quinn bought a five-bedroom house on The Peak Rd, Brinsmead, and haven’t looked back since.
“We’ve been blown away ... and money definitely goes a lot further up here,” she said.
The latest Census data showed more Australians were moving to Queensland, with sky-high house prices in some southern states cited as a driv- ing force.
“We certainly offer great bang for your buck compared to the southern states, even in comparison to Brisbane in most cases,” said local agent and REIQ Cairns zone chairman Tom Quaid.
Grab your Real Estate guide in today’s Weekend Post.