Up $103k: Cairns houses surge as buyers chase last affordable areas

Sophie Foster

Updated 1 Jun 2026, 12:01pm

First published 1 Jun 2026, 12:00pm

Aerial view of the Cairns City CBD and surrounds, including the Esplanade, the lagoon, Cairns Hospital and the Marlin Marina. Picture: Brendan Radke

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Cairns houses surged $103,000 in just one year – with units up nearly 20 per cent – as buyers priced out of capitals chase one of Queensland’s last genuinely affordable property markets.

The PropTrack Home Price Index for May 2026 shows Cairns up 16.32 per cent for the year with an all-dwellings median of $679k – with houses growing 15.28 per cent and units surging 19.61 per cent, adding $81k in 12 months.

RELATED: Up $145k: Gold Coast to overtake Sydney within a year

REA Group senior economist Angus Moore.

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PropTrack senior economist Angus Moore said the Cairns result mirrored the broader north Queensland story – strong, sustained and still running despite national headwinds.

“Pretty similar story – up 16 per cent in the past year, up a per cent in May, which is very strong. Obviously month to month things can be a bit volatile, so I wouldn’t want to put too fine a point on it, but the broader point is it remains quite firm.”

The monthly rise at a time when half Australia’s capitals are falling were a sign that momentum remained firmly intact despite three consecutive national rate hikes.

Cairns is $401k cheaper than Brisbane, $771k more affordable than the Gold Coast – though at $679k it now sits $41k above Townsville, which has emerged as the cheaper of the two northern Queensland cities.

Mr Moore said the affordability-driven demand story playing out across Brisbane’s outer suburbs was equally true for regional markets like Cairns.

“People are looking for those more affordable areas and that’s holding prices up there. That’s not just true in capital cities versus regional areas – it’s true even within cities.”

Cairns is $771k more affordable than the Gold Coast now. Picture: Getty Images

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Cairns’ unit market was the standout performer, outperforming houses – part of a consistent pattern across Queensland’s stronger markets, as buyers are pushed to more affordable dwelling types.

Cairns sits within the regional Queensland market which surged 81.9 per cent over five years – and doubled since 2020 – one of the strongest regional property runs in Australian history.

Mr Moore said the mining economy and strong demand for more affordable areas had been key drivers across the state’s regional centres.

“The fact that the mining economy has been quite strong has been an important part of housing demand in regional WA, and to some extent in regional SA as well, and even regional Queensland.”

With at least one more rate hike expected this year, PropTrack anticipates some softening ahead – but the fundamentals supporting Cairns were strong, with a resilient labour market, tight supply and high construction costs working against any sharp correction.

“Price declines are unlikely to be large as the labour market remains resilient, households have strong equity buffers – limiting forced sales – and high construction costs and supply constraints are limiting the volume of new homes.”