Cairns defies property downturn with 5.3pc annual jump

Cairns has pulled 5.3 per cent growth in the past year, beating inflation. Source: Ray White. Cairns is defying property falls of up to $77,000 in the southeast, with prices jumping an inflation-beating 5.3 per cent in the past year despite everything the economy and rates have thrown at it. As property owners in Brisbane and the Gold Coast nurse peak-to-trough losses of $77,321 and $51,946 respectively, greater Cairns dwelling values sat at a median of $660,000 in October, according to the latest Realestate.com.au Home Price Index. Realestate.com.au senior economist Eleanor Creagh. Picture, John Gass The 5.31 per cent annual surge has comfortably outpaced both Australia’s headline inflation rate of 4.3 per cent and the falling national housing market (-1.9 per cent YoY), delivering Far North homeowners a clean $33,300 equity windfall over the past 12 months. The current property downturn has scratched the Cairns market though, with dwelling values edging down 0.12 per cent in October and houses falling 0.78 per cent over the past quarter to $740,000. But that peak-to-trough drop amounts to just $5,817, for homes that are now roughly half the price of a house in Brisbane ($1.15m) o...