Home / Suburb data / Cairns (QLD)
| Type | 1-bed | 2-bed | 3-bed | 4+ bed | All |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| House | — | $600/wk (46 bonds) | $650/wk (329 bonds) | $750/wk (404 bonds) | — |
| Townhouse | — | $500/wk (54 bonds) | $600/wk (16 bonds) | — | — |
| Unit | $430/wk (241 bonds) | $520/wk (490 bonds) | $620/wk (110 bonds) | — | — |
Bond-lodgement medians from the © The State of Queensland Residential Tenancies Authority (CC BY 3.0 AU), Mar 2026 quarter (new tenancies). "Low sample" = the count is masked or small at source; treat those medians with care.
A gross yield around 4.3% is middling: it neither rescues nor kills a development case in Cairns. End values and build cost will decide the feasibility, with rent as a secondary support. The median moved +16.2% year-on-year on 731 sales — momentum is real, but never pay for it twice: if the asking price already banks the growth, the residual land value has to be run on today's evidence, not the trend line. Cairns qualifies for the Queensland Opportunity Index at #16 of 33 — mid-table on the yield-led score, so neither the rent side nor the momentum story dominates here. Rental depth is genuine: 329 bonds behind the headline median means the rent figure is an observed market, not a handful of tenancies. All of the above is area-level screening, not advice: a specific parcel lives or dies on zoning, overlays, frontage, and the end value of what it can actually carry.
This page is LGA-level screening. For one property — zoning, what could be built, what a developer could pay — run a GoSiteHunt site check, screen it with the free Deal Killer Checklist, or see how many units fit on a block.
State-wide ranking: Queensland Opportunity Index · all covered areas: suburb data hub
Council (LGA) level — Queensland does not publish suburb-level sale prices as open data. Sale medians are detached-house sales on a QVAS contract-date basis; rents are RTA new-tenancy medians for the LGA. Indicative gross yield = headline weekly bond median × 52 ÷ sale median — a screening ratio, not a valuation input.
Sources: Residential Land Development Activity, Queensland Government Statistician's Office, Queensland Treasury (CC BY 4.0) · © The State of Queensland Residential Tenancies Authority (CC BY 3.0 AU) · Indicative screening data — not financial, investment, valuation or planning advice. Area medians can move sharply between periods, especially on thin samples. © Madison Jade Pty Ltd.