Cairns: The most exciting market in Australia?

“If we draw a line in the sand today, we’re all crystal balling as investors, of course. But if we draw a line in the sand today and say, fast-forward three to five years, which markets might’ve done the best? I think the fundamentals of Cairns today are as good as any,” Mr Pressley told Smart Property Investment.

Demand is certainly strong in the area, according to Mr Pressley.

Due to Cairns being located at one of the northernmost parts of Australia, the area sees a lot of interest from Asian businesses, especially in the agricultural sector, as it is located close to Asia, and due to being a coastal city, it is no surprise that the biggest employer in the area is the Australian Navy.

“Australia’s agricultural products are worldwide, they say among the best, and we hear that term, ‘Australia is Asia’s food bowl’. It doesn’t mean investors should be looking to buy farms, that’s a different thing altogether to investing in property, but it’s just thinking which parts of Australia have what agricultural products and where are jobs created with that,” Mr Pressley said.

The tourism prospect of Cairns is not to be underestimated, according to the managing director of Propertyology, as the Cairns Airport is the fifth largest Australia-wide, which can see someone travelling from Asia reach Cairns in five hours. In addition, Cairns is situated close to the Great Barrier Reef as well as rainforests.

Cairns also is seeing projects and infrastructure growing, with a $120 million expansion to their convention centre, as well as access to the federal government department Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund, which gives Cairns access to a pool of $5 billion in government funding to build infrastructure projects to be supplemented with local funds.

Education is also seeing expansion with a second university for the area opened just last year.

So, what does all of this mean?

“Lots and lots of jobs,” Mr Pressley said.

“Jobs growth, if it’s sustained for a period of time, is the precursor to property price growth.”

On the supply side of Cairns, the Queensland area faces a vacancy rate under 2 per cent for a few years, with the prospect of shrinking further, as well as low building approval volumes.

Mr Pressley told Smart Property Investment that he personally has an investment property in Cairns.