Cairns real estate: Rental crisis may ease with investor activity

The rental crisis across the Far North has been unrelenting with few properties and rising rent prices, but increased investor activity could ease the pressure.

FAMILIES seeking rental properties struggle to find a home in Cairns while tenants face steep rent rises – but increasing investor activity across the region will start to ease the pressure.

A surprising range of suburbs are dominated by rental properties – 71 per cent of Palm Cove, 74 per cent of Cairns North, Parramatta Park Manoora and Westcourt all more than 50 per cent, compared with suburbs with few rentals, such as Kanimbla, Redlynch and Brinsmead.

Castaways Backpackers has been housing families including Beck Graham with her daughters Keely Graham, 4, and Shannarah Graham, 13, since the Covid pandemic began. Picture: Brendan Radke

Cairns Property Office agent Robyn Hawley-Whitton said continued interest from investors combined with families moving out of rentals into purchased first homes could ease a prolonged tight vacancy rate.

“The way the current market is going I believe that it will continue to attract investors and owner occupiers to the region,” she said.

“While it is a very heated real estate market across all sectors, it will be thanks to investors to help ease the extremely tight vacancy rates and allow people seeking rentals to find a roof over their heads.”

Rent has skyrocketed by almost 10 per cent across Cairns this year.

The median rent for a house in Cairns is $457 and for units it is $366, according to CoreLogic data obtained exclusively for the Cairns Post.

Rent has increased by 10.2 per cent for houses in the past 12 months, with a rise of 2.6 per cent in the last quarter.

For units, rent has risen by 7.9 per cent with a jump in the last quarter of 2.6 per cent.

There were only 3571 social housing dwellings, currently occupied, in the Cairns Regional Council area.

Castaways Backpackers has been housing families since the beginning of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. Photo of Beck Graham. Brendan Radke

A further 1996 families are waiting on the housing register, the Department of Communities and Housing revealed.

A spokesman said work would start on a further 234 homes across the Far North by June 2025 along with 128 homes under construction – a long way short of providing shelter for 1,996 families it says are on the housing register.

Cairns has had a vacancy rate of around one per cent for the past year.

PropTrack economist Angus Moore said Covid-driven migration from capital cities to regions had absorbed much available rental stock.

“Cairns is a tough market for renters at the moment, with relatively few options to look through – there are just half as many as listings for rentals in Cairns now as there were pre-Covid,” he said.

But the good news is that new rental listings on realestate.com.au are increasing substantially across several suburbs – with listings at Manunda up by 65 per cent.

New rental listings increased by 5.1 per cent in August and 6.3 per cent in September.

Keep a close eye out for new listings at Kewarra Beach, Trinity Beach, Trinity Park and Palm Cove.

Originally published as Cairns real estate: Rental crisis may ease with investor activity