Upbeat pick for housing market
THE “time has come” for Cairns to shine on the national and international stage as a variety of investors scared off by the confusing stockmarket and poor cash returns with banks eye the affordable and profitable Far North housing market.
RE/MAX Australia managing director Michael Davoren’s comments came as he visited Cairns to renew Tony Williamson’s second five-year franchise agreement with the global real estate brand.
“To have people like Tony stay on is a feather in our cap. People like him don’t just stay on because it’s fun,” Mr Davoren said.
“Australia is a very wellknown country in the world, Queensland is a very wellknown state and Cairns is a very well-known city. You can just see the time has come for Cairns.
“People in big cities are starting to look at alternatives because it’s unaffordable in places like Sydney and Melbourne. I say if you want to invest in real estate, buy in regional Australia … and Cairns international airport will put it in front of other regional cities.
“Construction projects start more construction and while there is the threat it goes too far, Cairns doesn’t have that problem. It’s exciting times.”
Mr Davoren said bricks and mortar investments were seen as more reliable and Cairns’ tight rental vacancy rate and low prices were attractive.
Just over a week after saying the Cairns property market was about to take off, Mr Williamson followed up his optimism with a belief the region was “one major announcement away from running”.
“Whether that’s news about the expansion of the navy base or news about an NRL team up here, we are just one announcement away from the Cairns real estate market running,” he said.