Regionals time in sun?

Not at all the case in our biggest city (Sydney) though. Very hard to find a reasonably nice house under $1m within that 20km radius.

 

Hence my original comment about why buy in whoop whoop when one can buy in a major capital city for the same money i.e. Perth.

 

When people say regionals, it doesn't have to mean whoop whoop. There are several regional locations within 3-4 hours of major cities which offer great lifestyle, quality schools, medical care etc... and have outperformed many cities consistently over time. They might be very attractive options to people with less money to spend and who also appreciate higher returns and lower vacancy rates

Port Macquarie, Orange, Bathurst, Goulburn, Ballarat, Bendigo are some examples. There are others

 

Cairns, beautiful beaches, amazing scenery, has all the amenities of a big city with a close commute to wherever you need to be. Population over 150k means you have great lifestyle drivers without the long lines.

Remember a lot of us grew up in the suburbs of these larger capital cities where house prices are far higher, traffic is a nightmare and the scenery is houses, factories and roads which is hard to compare to mountains, beaches and palm trees. You don't exactly get that "city lifestyle" when living in the burbs either.

Not for every one but I see places like cairns doing very well over the next few years.

 

It should be a riot (in the party sense) in 2023 then!

 

more thinking vs sydney... will be interesting to see what happens in Perth considering lower starting base... do you have a sense so far?

 

The market has been flat for several years now. Inner ring (<10km from CBD) hit bottom last year. covid has dampened activity just like everywhere else but new housing supply has been at a record low. Does all that mean it's primed for growth? You guess is as good as mine but given the rental stability and steady decrease in listings, I say so but only time will tell. I am currently looking for purchase number 6 (this cycle anyway) in Perth.

 

I don't follow Cairns market but we have an equivalent, Mandurah and surroundings. Canal blocks, beach properties etc. We also coastal suburbs north of Perth (but still metro) Yanchep etc that offer similar style all at affordable price tags and in a major capital city. The value for money at the moment is quite good.

 

i was bullish on cairns until.the start of this

its hard to see how it wont be smashed in the short term

tourism will take a few years to.recover

 

It is more exposed to tourism, hospitality, retail and service industries than possibly any other market in the country. To say it's going to be ugly there would be an understatement.

Cairns has practically no manufacturing base and an international airport equivalent in size to a city like Adelaide employing large numbers with little aviation still happening.

Likewise, international students have gone home from JCU and the casino is closed.

It's going to be an absolute bloodbath unfortunately, the naval base is still functioning but that only employs about 800 people.
I saw a prediction recently of 18% unemployment.

 

Our community services section, health, education are still going strong.

Still trades working, big store chains are still going.

Have taken a strong hit but most buisness's that are closing had a more transient workforce regardless. Locals are Still pushing through the same as anywhere else. Tourism can bounce back fairly quickly once travel resumes as normal.

 

I hope that’s the case but tourism or at least international tourism won’t be coming back any time soon. On the upside once things return to some kind of normal domestic tourism might pick up due to travel restrictions and a loss of appetite to travel overseas.

Trades are still working on present projects, but private expenditure and investment is collapsing, no point sugar coating it. Government projects may pick up some of this but I doubt it.

 

Coronavirus impact on major Australian centres leaves Byron Bay and Cairns 'most vulnerable' - ABC News

 

Interesting however I believe domestic travel will shoot up once the borders open up again, especially if international travel lags a tad.

 

Suspect local tourism will go nuts once local travel is allowed and the panic subsides. Even more so anything that can be driven to rather than flights. It might be a while before people the masses feel comfortable with a Europe or Aisa trip for fun. As such I would think (if they do suffer short term) Byron recovers more quickly than Cairns due to more accessible by car.

 

Absolutely- already scoping out some mid north and south cost options on airbnb for a series of get aways (assuming all continues to progress well with Covid)! I have Europe slated for next year, but i'm not even sure that will happen. Happy to stay local.

 

A good friend of mine runs a local premium holiday home management business, she is obviously very quiet right now with the restrictions. I was just talking to her the other day about how ridiculously busy she is going to get once the handbrakes are taken off and all the capital city folk want a holiday without the risk of overseas flights.

 

We've been renting airbnbs since February 27 in northern NSW and there is now a massive glut of furnished permanent rentals on offer. We basically named our price a week ago on the next one we're going to and we got it off Facebook Marketplace. We paid two months up front and a bond. Now I'm sorry, as there's been an even greater flood of options (I panicked) since and for less.

I don't think many jobless people are going to be travelling, even when borders open, so without that local market, and nobody from o/s coming in things will be tight in the short-term rental market for quite some time. The smart owners are listing their properties now trying to get some certainty. There are still others hoping to get top dollar but they are deluded. There's even listings with RE agents with massive flexibility eg. throwing in free weeks, including all utilities and Wifi and three-month options.

 

Anyone purchased a Regional in the past 3 months?

I attempted to get finance with the aim of purchasing a cash flow positive property with room for cosmetic improvement & potentially a GF at a later time.

Got knocked back due to job insecurity but would love to hear a positive story of someone who got to make a move during these crazy times.

 

We are planning to travel along south coast and to Melbourne in July holidays. Wife hasn't booked yet. Hopefully there's still places to stay.