Cairns Sales Volumes Increase, Prices Still Slipping

There seems to be a pick-up in listings in the last few weeks with many buyers revelling in the fact that they have an increasing choice of properties to view, putting even more pressure on our sellers to reduce their expectations of price on their properties to be ahead of the competition. This is not a trend we were hoping for as Cairns properties continue to languish at 2005 prices. It seems many sellers are finally giving up on the hope of an improvement in the market and pressing on with life plans. Life does go on, people get older, families grow out of their homes, many scale down, circumstances change. An interesting fact is that at any given time, 3% of people are either in buying or selling mode. A return to normal stock levels will definitely have some sort of impact on our prices and with so many variables in the global and domestic outlook, it is anyone’s guess as to what to expect in 2013.

Cairns in summary for November:

·         Volumes of sales are still increasing, though prices still falling

·         Medium house price is $330,000, a reduction of 3.7% since the same time in 2011

·         Medium unit price is $179,000, a 4.4% reduction since the same time in 2011

·         Rental vacancy rate for houses are at 1.3%, units 2.5% (Overall 1.9% - down from 2.4% last month)

·         Building Approvals return to growth with a 24% increase in the past 12 months

·         Since 2008, Mortgagee in Possession & Receivership sales accounted for a trend level 13.6% of all residential sales in September 2012

 

 

To keep your finger on the pulse, the November Herron Todd White Cairns Watch Property Report has just been released. You can find it here: http://www.cairnswatch.com.au/uploads/uploads/201211property.pdf

We are still experiencing good numbers through advertised Open Homes, in fact I had over 60 people visit an acreage property last Sunday! On average 4-5 groups through most Open Homes. Real estate is a numbers game, the more people through, the better chance of selling but unless the advertised price is within 10% of where the buyers are, we are wasting our time. Buyers have become “internet intellectuals”, more prepared and more informed than ever.

The year has ended with plenty of action and very pleasing results in comparison to last year. It is now cheaper to buy than to rent and interest rates are at an all-time low. As long as the prices are right, there are plenty of buyers about and that’s the way we like it!

Have a great week!