City’s economy rated in healthy state

THE Cairns economy is moving from strength to strength, finishing the year on a stronger note than 12 months ago.

The latest Herron Todd White Cairns Watch report takes a positive on the employment and labour market front.

The calculated employment trend has shown growth over the past five months, reaching a record high in October.

The report also showed that the trend employment growth rate over the period from October 2017 to October 2018, was 3 per cent.

Research consultant Rick Carr said there were positive signals for 2019 as the investment and development cycle further advances. But while the local economy soars, the Cairns Watch report shows that residential construction, especially of houses, remains a point of weakness.

“Despite our forecast for improvement throughout the year on the back of improving economic conditions, it continues to underperform,” Mr Carr said.

The report showed that in Cairns, median property price trends have edged up slightly for houses over the last six months and increased more noticeably for land.

“The latest trend median prices for properties sold in the month of October 2018 came in at $405,000 for a house, $211,000 for a unit, and $223,000 for a block of land,” the report stated.