Thought I would add my post to the H&L thread here as well as this seems to be more the general Cairns chat area.
Recently I've been to a few events that have had talks from valuers, economists, local experts etc and thought I would share what I have picked up from the presentations.
First thing being the composition of the economy and the perception that it's heavily reliant on tourism. The Gross Regional Product of Cairns for 2013-2014 was $14.355b. Of that ~$14b the direct tourism contribution was $1.388b and the flow on in secondary services is $1.846b. So that is roughly 22% of the economy that is made up of direct and indirect tourism.
Top contributors to the $14.55b was mining (10%), construction (9%), transport (8%), ownership of dwellings (10%), agriculture, forestry & fishing (7%), and admin support services (8%). The rest of the makeup belongs to other industry groups such as education, financial services, communications, defence, health & community etc.
Total 2013-2014 workforce was approx 130,000 with the top industry groups being health and community services (12%), retail (11%), admin and support (10%), accom & drink (9%), construction (9%) and education and training (8%).
Unemployment is 6.8% which is almost on par with the QLD average.
Cairns does have a lower yearly income average. The only reliable data I can find at the moment is from the ABS from 2011 which had an average income of $46,449 and during the same period the national average was $52,782. 2011 was still a year or 2 before the housing market and economy started to move.
From 1976 - 2011 population of the region has grown by 111% (1976 -128,030 & 2011 - 269,753). The projected growth is a 40% increase by 2036.
Cairns is the 3rd most visited place in Australia after Sydney and Melbourne and international and domestic passengers through the airport have increase. Domestic shows a 8.2% trend increase and international is a 17.5% trend increase.
According to the REIQ Cairns had a 8.2% increase last year but there are certain suburbs that have shown double figure growth and are continuing to show it this year.
Major projects currently underway or planned for Cairns and the region include:
$8.15 billion Aquis Great Barrier Reef Resort at Yorkeys Knob.
$1.4 billion Ella Bay Resort near Innisfail
$1 billion redevelopment of Cairns Airport.
$500 million Mount Emerald Wind Farm on the Atherton Tablelands.
$456 million Cairns Hospital Redevelopment.
$250 million Sheraton Mirage redevelopment at Port Douglas.
$616 million Bruce Highway upgrade at Cairns.
$40 million Cairns Shipping Development Project.
$33 million City Centre Alive project.
$25 million expansion to the Redlynch Central Shopping Centre.
$25 million Homemaker Centre at Portsmith.
$20 million Cooktown Foreshore and Webber Esplanade Revitalisation
Rainforest Water Australia project
Plans for multi-million dollar CQ University CBD campus.
Mount Garnet Tin Project.
$1 million upgrade to passenger facilities at Yorkeys Knob Boating Club.
$5 million expansion of the DFO shopping centre
Here's a link to some more info.
Regarding chatter - there seems to be plenty of this around. Not just the forum with a few threads popping up, but from 'experts' such as Ryder and also the REIQ that are putting Cairns (as well as other places) on their watch lists.
As always, do your own DD. I'm not trying to suggest Cairns is a good place to invest or is a better investment than XYZ, just wanting to share some information.
Recently I've been to a few events that have had talks from valuers, economists, local experts etc and thought I would share what I have picked up from the presentations.
First thing being the composition of the economy and the perception that it's heavily reliant on tourism. The Gross Regional Product of Cairns for 2013-2014 was $14.355b. Of that ~$14b the direct tourism contribution was $1.388b and the flow on in secondary services is $1.846b. So that is roughly 22% of the economy that is made up of direct and indirect tourism.
Top contributors to the $14.55b was mining (10%), construction (9%), transport (8%), ownership of dwellings (10%), agriculture, forestry & fishing (7%), and admin support services (8%). The rest of the makeup belongs to other industry groups such as education, financial services, communications, defence, health & community etc.
Total 2013-2014 workforce was approx 130,000 with the top industry groups being health and community services (12%), retail (11%), admin and support (10%), accom & drink (9%), construction (9%) and education and training (8%).
Unemployment is 6.8% which is almost on par with the QLD average.
Cairns does have a lower yearly income average. The only reliable data I can find at the moment is from the ABS from 2011 which had an average income of $46,449 and during the same period the national average was $52,782. 2011 was still a year or 2 before the housing market and economy started to move.
From 1976 - 2011 population of the region has grown by 111% (1976 -128,030 & 2011 - 269,753). The projected growth is a 40% increase by 2036.
Cairns is the 3rd most visited place in Australia after Sydney and Melbourne and international and domestic passengers through the airport have increase. Domestic shows a 8.2% trend increase and international is a 17.5% trend increase.
According to the REIQ Cairns had a 8.2% increase last year but there are certain suburbs that have shown double figure growth and are continuing to show it this year.
Major projects currently underway or planned for Cairns and the region include:
$8.15 billion Aquis Great Barrier Reef Resort at Yorkeys Knob.
$1.4 billion Ella Bay Resort near Innisfail
$1 billion redevelopment of Cairns Airport.
$500 million Mount Emerald Wind Farm on the Atherton Tablelands.
$456 million Cairns Hospital Redevelopment.
$250 million Sheraton Mirage redevelopment at Port Douglas.
$616 million Bruce Highway upgrade at Cairns.
$40 million Cairns Shipping Development Project.
$33 million City Centre Alive project.
$25 million expansion to the Redlynch Central Shopping Centre.
$25 million Homemaker Centre at Portsmith.
$20 million Cooktown Foreshore and Webber Esplanade Revitalisation
Rainforest Water Australia project
Plans for multi-million dollar CQ University CBD campus.
Mount Garnet Tin Project.
$1 million upgrade to passenger facilities at Yorkeys Knob Boating Club.
$5 million expansion of the DFO shopping centre
Here's a link to some more info.
Regarding chatter - there seems to be plenty of this around. Not just the forum with a few threads popping up, but from 'experts' such as Ryder and also the REIQ that are putting Cairns (as well as other places) on their watch lists.
As always, do your own DD. I'm not trying to suggest Cairns is a good place to invest or is a better investment than XYZ, just wanting to share some information.
