CAIRNS POST: RENTALS LIFT FOR REGION

CAIRNS real estate agents hope the city’s rental vacancy rate will drop lower than 4.2 per cent in coming months pushing investors back into the property market as the region comes into its peak season.

Real Estate Institute of Queensland Cairns zone chairman Rick Szelpuk said rental vacancy figures for February were the lowest they had been in a long time after hovering between 5 to 6 per cent.

“Cairns is doing extremely well if you look at the February figures – they say houses in the Cairns central area, which includes Cairns North, Edge Hill and those suburbs, was at 3 per cent, at the northern beaches it was 2.5 per cent and the southern corridor was 3 per cent and if you put them all together there is an overall 2.8 per cent vacancy in the housing market.

“Units were slightly higher. In the Cairns central area the vacancy rate was 5.6 per cent, northern beaches 6.2 per cent and the southern corridor 2 per cent with an overall vacancy for units at 5.6 percent.

“Overall, that’s a 4.3 per cent rental vacancy rate for Cairns and that’s a pretty damn good
number considering what we’ve been through in recent times.

“As we head into our busiest period of the year, it’s a strong confidence booster as the vacancy rate can only go down and we should see investors going ahead and buying again.”

LJ Hooker Edge Hill associate director Amanda Boccalatte says houses have become more popular than units with people taking advantage of cheaper rents.

“Rent is certainly very affordable and many tenants have upgraded from a unit or townhouse to a house as they are getting more value for their money,” she said.

“One bedroom units aren’t as popular as they used too be because the prices have dropped, therefore, houses are more affordable.

“We only have 37 properties vacant and it’s the lowest it has dropped since January when we had 60 properties availableble so it’s a very positive sign.”

LJ Hooker Port Douglas director licensee Michael Samson said the seaside town had really felt the pinch in the global financial crisis.

“It’s getting better for us ass the wider area outside Port Douglas, which includess Mossman, has a vacancy rate of 10 to 13 per cent while Port Douglas is well under 10 per cent,” he said. “We’ve got people looking for houses so that’s a good sign for us. However, units aren’t as popular.”

Source: The Weekend Post 26th March 2011

Peter Musso - Ray White Cairns Beaches - Property agent selling real estate in Trinity Beach, Kewarra Beach, Clifton Beach, Palm Cove, Trinity Park, Smithfield, Yorkeys Knob, Holloways Beach, Machans Beach