By Chris Calcino
A lightspeed property market is surging in Cairns with buyers lined up to secure land before another southern population exodus looks north.
Developer Darren Halpin has 560 prospective buyers on a waiting list for 87 new lots be released in Enclave Two of his The Palms development at Kewarra Beach on Friday.
“The hope is we can sell out in the next two to three months and then move on to Enclave 3,” he said.
Mr Halpin said there was considerable local interest but still plenty of buyers from interstate on the back of Covid lockdowns.
It is a turnaround from just a few years ago – but it the current period of high sales growth has been sustained.
Mr Halpin’s first 87 lots at The Palms, carved from the former Paradise Palms golf course, sold in just weeks.
Urban Development Institute of Australia Cairns branch chairman Nathan Lee Long said the market showed no sign of slowing.
He anticipated flooding in the state’s southeast and northern NSW to have consequences on Cairns, with buyers coming north and effects on workforce and materials.
“The market is definitely remaining strong,” he said.
“The trouble is that it’s very hard to keep up with demand.
“With the need to focus on rebuilding and repairing those areas, it’s going to put further strain on an already strained industry and market.”
Property Shop sales and marketing director Ben Johnston, who is overseeing The Palms’ campaign, said it was the most buoyant market he had seen in 25 years.
“We’re seeing people miss out because they’re relying on their builders to come back to them with a price.
“Builders won’t do that because the time frame between now and the land being ready is a big difference.
“So people are coming, no conditions, and just buying the land and getting it sorted.
“At the end of the day we are a linear city and there’s only so much land.”
The Palms buyers are putting down cash deposits before the subdivision has been built to get their foot in the door.
“I’ve never seen so much cash and people willing to go right now and not wait 12 months,” Mr Johnston said.
“They’re confident they’ve got 10 or 20 per cent equity in their home and are buying with no conditions.”
Recent history has proven a lot can happen in a year.
Mr Johnston believed the most recent batch of natural disasters would strengthen interest in the Far North despite its cyclonic reputation.