Free market report · Data to July 2026
Cairns property market
Cairns is one of the 453 council areas we track on the Momentum Dial, our property clock. This page is the plain-numbers read: where it sits in the cycle, who lives there, what's being built, and the suburbs inside it.
Cairns is home to 179,334 people. On the Buyers First Momentum Dial its house market currently reads at Peak, while units read Slowing. Same council, different clocks, which is exactly why we track them separately. Here's the rest of the picture, in plain numbers.
Houses · cycle position
Peak
The Cairns house market is growing at its fastest pace in the current cycle. That is a momentum reading, not a crash call: markets can sit at peak growth for a long time before easing.
-3% to +14%
Modelled 12-month price range
+2.4%
Modelled 12-month rent change
Units · cycle position
Slowing
The unit market is still growing, but the pace has come off its fastest point. Slowing markets often keep rising for years, just less quickly.
-3% to +11%
Modelled 12-month price range
+4.2%
Modelled 12-month rent change
At a glance · houses
$1,020,706
Typical house, August 2026
+5.8% a year since 2010
+7.9%
Growth a year, last 10 years
+11.5% a year over the last 5
$655
Rent a week
3.3% gross yield
2 of 15
Years prices fell since 2010
Worst: 2011, -1%
The clock measures growth momentum, not price. Peak means growing fastest, not about to fall. Cycle data and projections sourced from HtAG Analytics. See Cairns on the clock.
Free · One per person
Want all of this written up for Cairns?
The full report is this data as a written document, plus the current price, rent, yield and growth on one suburb inside Cairns, and the numbers that cut against the area. I write them by hand, so it comes from me rather than out of a system.
The numbers, explained
Cairns in charts.
The typical house in Cairns went from $398,560 in 2010 to $1,020,706 in August 2026. That is +156% in total, +5.8% a year. 2 down years out of 15, never more than 1 in a row. Cycles, not collapses.
Houses · price change each year · 2011 to 2026
Prices in Cairns fell in 2 of the last 15 years
+156%
Since 2010
+7.9%
Per year, last 10 years
2 of 15
Years going backwards
-0.7%
Worst year (2011)
What this shows. How much the typical house price in Cairns went up or down each year. Teal bars are up years, red bars are down years, and the faded bar is this year so far.
Why it matters. The size of a good year matters less than how many bad years there were and whether they came in a row. Boring? Absolutely. But the length of the down stretch is what decides whether you get out the other side. Typical price at December each year, data from HtAG Analytics.
You don't need to know property to read this. Every chart below opens with the point in one line, then says what it shows and why we care. Teal is a good sign, amber is okay, red means watch it.
The scorecard · 7 things we check
Cairns scores 21 out of 35. Mixed.
prices are rising as fast as they will this cycle, so the easy money has been made
2 of 15 years
1.9 new homes approved per 100 that exist
population growing 1.2% a year
4.7% unemployed, Australia 4.2%
a house costs 10.5 years of a local household's income
0.8% of rentals are empty, so about 1 in every 100
What this shows. Seven quick checks on Cairns, each scored out of five. Five is the reading we most want to see.
Why it matters. No single number tells you whether an area is a good buy. Together they show whether the pieces line up. These are bands, not rules: a council outside a band can still be the right buy for the right person, and one inside every band can still be wrong for you.
House prices since 2010 · Cairns vs the 5 most similar councils in QLD
Cairns has outgrown similar councils over ten years
+11.5% vs +14.2%
A year, last 5 years
+7.9% vs +7.2%
A year, last 10 years
+6.3% vs +5.3%
A year, last 15 years
What this shows. The typical house price in Cairns every year, in teal, next to the middle of the five councils in QLD closest to it in size and starting price: Redland, Toowoomba, Townsville, Mackay, Fraser Coast. The small "vs" number in each tile is those councils.
Why it matters. Beating its peers over a whole decade is worth more than any single hot year. It usually means something real is pulling people here.
Momentum · the last 36 months
Prices in Cairns are picking up speed right now
$1,014,367
3-month price, August 2026
+5.1%
3-month price vs 12-month price
3,005 vs 4,042
Houses sold, last 12 months vs the 12 before
What this shows. Two versions of the same price. The dotted teal line averages the last three months, so it reacts fast. The grey line averages the last twelve, so it moves slowly. The bars are how many houses sold each month.
Why it matters. The last three months are running ahead of the last twelve. That is what speeding up looks like before it shows in the yearly number.
New homes · approvals as a share of all the homes here
New homes in Cairns are keeping pace with the people
What this shows. For every 100 homes already in Cairns, how many new ones the council approved each year. The teal band is the range we call balanced.
Why it matters. New homes are arriving at about the pace the population absorbs them. Balanced. The home count is the population divided by the average household size, so treat the rate as a guide rather than a census.
Affordability · house price in years of local household income
A house in Cairns costs 10.5 years of a local family's income
What this shows. Take the typical house price and divide it by what a typical household here earns in a year. A bar of 7 means seven years of the whole household's income buys one house.
Why it matters. Expensive for the people who live here. Prices at this level need outside buyers to keep moving, and outside buyers are the first to leave when things wobble. Income is the 2021 Census figure carried forward at 3.5% a year, so it is an estimate, not a measurement.
Rents · typical weekly house rent, last 36 months · and how many rentals sit empty
Rent in Cairns is $655 a week, up 6.3% in a year
$655
A week, August 2026
+6.3%
Change in the last year
0.8%
Rentals sitting empty (tight)
What this shows. What a typical house in Cairns rents for each week, month by month. The empty-rentals number is the share of rental homes with nobody in them: under 1.5% is tight, over 3% means tenants have plenty of choice.
Why it matters. Rents rising faster than inflation means more people want to live here than there are homes to rent. That pressure eventually shows up in prices.
Rental yield · a year of rent as a share of the price, Cairns vs similar councils
Rent covers 3.3% of the price each year in Cairns
What this shows. Yield is simple: a whole year of rent divided by the house price. A $500,000 house renting for $500 a week earns $26,000 a year, which is a 5.2% yield.
Why it matters. Lower than similar councils, which are around 3.7%. Prices have run ahead of rents, so you are paying more of the loan yourself while you wait for growth. We don't buy on yield alone and we never set a yield cut-off; it is one piece of the picture, next to growth.
The people
Who lives in Cairns.
The population has grown a steady +1.2% a year over the last five years. Interesting mix underneath: locals have been leaving on net (-831 over three years) while overseas migration more than filled the gap (6,398). Worth understanding who is arriving and what housing they need. The median age is 39 and the median household brings in $1,578 a week (Census 2021). 35% of households rent, a deep tenant pool if you're buying to hold, and more investor competition when stock is tight.
Population · ABS estimates 2015 to 2025
Cairns is growing steadily: 179,334 people, up +1.2% a year
179,334
People, 2025
+1.2% vs +1.2%
A year, last 5 years · typical QLD council
+1.1%
A year, last 10 years
Why it matters. Steady growth is enough to keep demand ahead of supply, as long as building stays sensible.
Where the growth came from · last 3 years
Overseas arrivals are doing the heavy lifting in Cairns: 6,398 in three years
Net change: +7,688 people over three years.
What this shows. Three ways a place gains or loses people: babies born minus people who died, people who moved here from another part of Australia, and people who arrived from overseas. Bars to the right add people, bars to the left take them away.
Why it matters. Overseas arrivals usually rent first, so this kind of growth shows up in rents before it shows up in prices.
Age and households · Census 2021
Cairns is about the same age as the typical QLD council: median age 39
Cairns Typical QLD council (middle of 52)
Why it matters. A mixed-age area has demand for most housing types, which makes it easier to sell to whoever the next buyer is.
Income and who owns the homes · Census 2021
Cairns is a renters' market: 35% of homes are rented, vs 31% in the typical QLD council
Own or paying off Renting Other
Why it matters. Lots of renters means a deep tenant pool if you are buying to hold, and more investor competition when stock is tight.
New supply
What's being approved to build.
1,344 dwellings were approved in FY26, 697 of them houses. Approvals are clearly trending up, so more supply is coming. Whether that's a problem depends on whether the population keeps outrunning it. On the non-residential side, $1.4 billion of building was approved in FY26, $1.2 billion of it public money. Governments build where they expect people. Within that, $1.4 billion of education and health buildings have been approved across the last three financial years. Schools and hospitals are the most honest signal governments give about where they expect families.
Homes approved · ABS, by financial year
Building in Cairns is steady: 1,344 homes approved in FY26
Houses Units, townhouses and other
1,344
Homes approved, FY26
52%
Of them houses
1.9%
New homes per 100 that exist
What this shows. How many new homes the council approved each financial year, split into houses and everything else. Approved is not built, but it is the earliest warning of supply on the way.
Why it matters. Enough building to house the newcomers without flooding the market. Boring is good here.
Non-residential building approved · ABS
Government spending on buildings in Cairns is rising: $1.2b approved in FY26
Government projects All non-residential
$1.4b
All sectors, FY26
$1.2b
Government, FY26
$1.4b
Schools and health, last 3 years
What this shows. The dollar value of shops, offices, schools, hospitals and other non-home buildings approved each year. The darker bar is the government's share.
Why it matters. Governments build where they expect people. Schools and hospitals are the most honest signal they give about where families are heading. For the named projects behind these numbers, ask for the full report.
Jobs
Who's working in Cairns.
Work here runs on health care and social assistance (18% of jobs), ahead of hospitality and retail trade. 5,065 more residents are in work than five years ago (+5.7%). Unemployment tracks close to the national average at 4.7%.
Jobs · SALM, March 2026
5,065 more people in Cairns have a job than five years ago
94,099
Residents in work
4.7% vs 4.2%
Unemployed · Australia
+5.7%
Jobs change, 5 years
Cairns Australia
Why it matters. Strong jobs growth shows up in housing demand with a lag. People get the job first and buy the house a year or two later.
Who employs people here · Census 2021
Health care and social assistance is the biggest employer in Cairns, 18% of jobs
What this shows. The five industries that employ the most residents, as a share of all jobs. The pill is the ABS advantage score: Cairns sits in decile 7 of 10 nationally, where 10 is the most advantaged.
Why it matters. A spread of employers means no single closure can empty the town. That is the kind of job base that holds house prices through a downturn.
The outlook
Is Cairns worth buying into?
Put the drivers together and the case for Cairns is: a population that keeps growing, a job base that has expanded, public building spend trending up. None of this guarantees anything. It tells you where to look harder, which is what a report like this is for.
Free · Written by hand · One per person
This page is the public data. The full report is that written up as a document, plus the current price, rent, yield and growth on one suburb inside Cairns. One per person.
Name, email and phone. I write these by hand, one per person, and the conversation afterwards is the only thing the report costs.
Inside the LGA
The suburbs of Cairns.
We hold live snapshot data for one suburb in Cairns. Click through for the full numbers.
| Suburb | Typical price | Rent/wk | Gross yield | 1yr growth | Listings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bentley Park | $801,684 | $657 | 4.3% | +19% | REA · Domain |
Next step. See what's for sale in Bentley Park on realestate.com.au or Domain. Then send me the address before you make an offer. That is the part the data cannot do.
All 65 suburbs and localities in Cairns
Aeroglen · Aloomba · Babinda · Barron · Barron Gorge · Bartle Frere · Bayview Heights · Bellenden Ker · Bentley Park · Bramston Beach · Brinsmead · Bungalow · Cairns City · Cairns North · Caravonica · Clifton Beach · Deeral · Earlville · East Russell · East Trinity · Edge Hill · Edmonton · Ellis Beach · Eubenangee · Fishery Falls · Fitzroy Island · Freshwater · Glen Boughton · Goldsborough · Gordonvale · Green Hill · Green Island · Holloways Beach · Kamerunga · Kanimbla · Kewarra Beach · Lamb Range · Little Mulgrave · Macalister Range · Machans Beach · Manoora · Manunda · Mirriwinni · Mooroobool · Mount Peter · Mount Sheridan · Ngatjan · Packers Camp · Palm Cove · Parramatta Park · Portsmith · Redlynch · Smithfield · Stratford · Trinity Beach · Trinity Park · Waugh Pocket · Westcourt · White Rock · Whitfield · Woopen Creek · Wooroonooran · Woree · Wrights Creek · Yorkeys Knob
Free · Written by hand · One per person
Want the full workup on Cairns?
This page is the public data. The full report is the written workup: current price, rent, gross yield and vacancy, growth over 1, 3, 5 and 10 years, days on market and demand, and the supply coming down the pipe, for Cairns or any suburb in it. Same data we run for clients. I pull it and email it through, usually within a business day. One per person, no charge, and no 14-part email sequence afterwards. All I ask is that if it lands, you take the fifteen minute call at the end of it.
Name, email and phone. I write these by hand, one per person, and the conversation afterwards is the only thing the report costs.
Keep comparing
Markets of a similar size in QLD.
A council only makes sense in context. These are the QLD markets closest to Cairns in population, each with its own written report.
General information only, not financial or investment advice. Cycle positions and projections are modelled LGA-level figures to July 2026, sourced from HtAG Analytics. Population and approvals are ABS estimates; employment is SALM smoothed data; income, age and tenure are Census 2021. None of it can see street quality, flood maps, zoning or the contract, which is where deals are actually won and lost. Get advice on your own situation before acting.
Data finds the area. It doesn't buy the house.
We narrow 15,000 suburbs to the top 5 for each client, then find the street and the property. If Cairns is on your list, that's a conversation worth having early.