Interest high in north Queensland

ALMOST on the doorstep of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, prestigious Port Douglas units are moving fast in a real estate market that shows the Cairns area is luring thousands to life in a tropical paradise.

According to figures just released by the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ), the Cairns area, only 65 kilometres south of Port Douglas, had the highest increase in average house prices in the state over the past 15 years.

Research showed the far north Queensland tourist hub and international port of Cairns had increases of 11.2 per cent per annum. This reflected a 13 per cent combined population made up of new settlers who had moved to the area in the five years between 1986 and 1991.

A closer breakdown of the figures showed 1,044 new (interstate and overseas) migrants settled in the Douglas shire where the units were being marketed.

The president of the REIQ, Ray Milton, said Cairns had experienced high levels of appreciation due to a large population growth.

The Queensland population generally is forecast to grow from three million at present to four million by the year 2008 and the Cairns/Port Douglas area is expected to lead the trend.

As the gross human flow into the area escalates, the A$8 million (HK$40 million) Port Douglas complex of 27 luxury Beaches units, located on The Esplanade next to the famous Four Mile Beach, is seeing unprecedented demand from local, interstate and foreign investors.