Plenty of Action in Cairns – We’re Excited!

What an exciting week it has been! Buyer sentiment has been high and the RBA announcing that the interest rates will remain at 3.5% will really feed that enthusiasm. Good crowds at Open Homes with Buyers remaining confident in their power that they hold “price wise”.

I get to speak with valuers, solicitors, building & pest inspectors every day. Most are reporting a marked increase in business, though it remains patchy with quiet spells now and then.

Its also surprising how many people searching for property come from the south. Many on the hunt for a good buy, many have sold or are selling in Adelaide, Melbourne & Sydney to begin new lives in Cairns. Why are they coming? Warm weather, relaxed living, moving to be close to family! Lots of reasons, the tropical lifestyle sure looks appealing!

Huge news this week with Cairns set to host 2,000+ delegates at the 2014 G20 Finance Summit. Julia’s scored a few brownie points for that. The Federal Government alone will be spending some $340 million on “infrastructure / support” and some of this will feed directly into our economy. The Cairns Regional Council will also be looking at plans for the city, surely its all positive.


Bruce Highway Upgrade



The proposed Ray Jones Drive intersection upgrade

Lots of action on two of the southern highway intersections with millions of dollars being injected into the new by-passes, built to cope with our increasing population.  Stage one of the Cairns Bruce Highway Upgrade is the $150 million upgrade of the Sheehy Road (Forest Gardens) to Ray Jones Drive section. It will improve safety and traffic flow, reduce congestion and enhance access for 55,000 motorists using the southern access into Cairns each day.

The announcement of new flights to & from China is another bit of good news for us.

There is always a party killer somewhere. The announcement that the Cairns Regional Council will raise rates by 3.5% this year has stirred everyone up. There have been many government job loses about town too.

All in all, Cairns is enjoying a new spring in its step as confidence returns. I was in Port Douglas on Friday night and could not believe the amount of tourists out & about. The pubs were full, people lining up at restaurants – what a change from 12 months ago……Wow! Cairns is much the same.

All this action has had no effect on real estate prices with plenty of owners still married to excessively high expectations of sale prices. We won’t pop the champagne yet. We are still at 2005 prices & it looks like we’ll be here for a while.

5 years on a downer has made us cautious…..but we are cracking smiles….Bring it on!

Have a great week, Debbie