Real Estate
6 October, 2025
House price rise
THE median house price in Port Douglas is now well over $1 million compared to a little over $700,000 for Cairns.
According to a Cairns Chamber of Commerce ‘Cairns Economic Monitor’ for September, houses in Cairns are now $712,000 while units had jumped to $407,000.
However, at Port Douglas the median price is $1.148 million, while units are $395,000, according to Raine and Horne.
At Mossman it is $472,500 for houses, but no values are available for units.
Pete Faulkner of Conus Business Consultancy Services said in Cairns house prices were up 13%, while units had risen by 9%.
“Having apparently struggled to breach what might have been psychological median prices barriers of $700,000 (for houses) and $400,000 (for units) a few months ago, prices have now moved further ahead,” he said.
“Cairns remains as one of the best performing regions for real estate price increases over the past three years (+16.1% pa) and is now also beating the national average for seven years (+9.4% pa versus +8.0% pa).”
Mr Faulkner said there appeared to be a clear shift in lower rental units “and this trend has become even more obvious this month”.
“While rents for houses are still climbing (albeit slowly), average rents for two-bedroom units have very clearly fallen from the highs we saw at the beginning of the year,” he said.
“At least part of the reason for this is that increases in unit rents had been running well ahead of the increase in unit prices.
“In the early part of this year unit rents had increased, since 2016, by 16% more than unit prices.
“This recent pause in unit rents has seen that gap close to just 5%. The discrepancy between the pace of price and rent increases has now been largely closed so we might expect to see the two move ahead more in tandem in coming months.
“Certainly, the low rental vacancy rate, which is stubbornly below 1%, combined with falling interest rates would point towards further upward pressure on both measures.”
LJ Hooker Cairns Edge Hill director Nadine Edwards said the city’s real estate “continues to experience strong conditions, with stock levels remaining tight and buyer demand pushing prices upward”.
“Competitive situations are common, as supply is being outstripped by demand across much of the market,” she said.
“The rental sector also remains healthy, providing confidence for investors.”
Ms Edwards said adding further momentum, the Australian Government has expanded the Home Guarantee Scheme, effective from 1 October.
“The scheme will have unlimited places and higher property price caps, making home ownership more accessible for those eligible,” she said.
Read More: Far North
