Cairns Property Market Update February 2020

The Cairns economy and residential property market continue to plod along and our best guess is that 2020 will look a lot like 2019 (which looked a lot like 2018).

The $176 million redevelopment of the Cairns Convention Centre is due to commence in June 2020. With Riley, Bailey and Flynn (the Crystalbrook Collection Hotels) being finished, the first half of 2020 will lack a large construction project and the lack of activity may extend the normally quiet summer period further into 2020.

The changes to GST charges on foreign-flagged superyacht charters and predictions of a surge in superyachts visiting for leisure and maintenance is a real positive for Cairns and is exactly the type of stimulus needed to support the local property market.

2020 is an election year with council elections due on Saturday, 28 March 2020 and state government elections due on Saturday, 31 October 2020. Unfortunately, the uncertainty elections cause tends to have a negative impact on market activity with people delaying decisions until after the dust has settled.

If we had to have a wager on where the residential market would be in December 2020 our bet would be the same or slightly less sales than 2019 and median prices similar to or slightly below 2019.

Speak with a Cairns Mortgage Broker today.