The month in review: Cairns

By Herron Todd White
May 2015

The prestige housing sector in Cairns starts in the current market climate at about $750,000, with a super prestige sector cutting in at about $1.5 million. The market essentially consists of four elements: • beachfront houses along the northern beaches; • homes in the more elevated areas of suburbs such as Edge Hill, Whitfield, Mooroobool, Earlville and Bayview Heights; • some acreage properties in the northern beaches suburbs such as Kewarra Beach; and • a small number of penthouse and sub-penthouse apartments in areas such as the CBD, Palm Cove and Trinity Beach.

Houses in the $750,000 plus category are thinly traded. There were 90 house sales in Cairns priced at $750,000 or more during 2014 out of a total market of approximately 2,500 house sales. Of these four were priced at $1.5 million or more. There were also 19 apartment sales over $750,000 during 2014, of which one was above $1,500,000.

Conditions in the prestige sector have been slow, but properties are nevertheless starting to turn over again as the market rebuilds. We expect the market to continue improving as local economic conditions continue to recover, though lagging the market in general due to the shortage of buyers with the resources to participate in this sector.

Around the Cairns region there are also small pockets of prestige housing located in Port Douglas, especially on Wharf Street, Flagstaff Hill and some in Mission Beach.