Cairns… Your thoughts please

Have you done comparisons of recent sales of new and used similar properties in the immediate area to estimate their value?

New complexes are often price loaded to cover developers' profit. Try to find out if there are a lot of these types of developments on the go – this could mean a possible over-supply in the near future and impact on your cap growth, or resale price if you ever need to sell, rent return etc.

You may do better with a newer, but used apartment (still have good on-paper deductions) which has already had a re-sale. These are more accurate in terms of market value.

Do some research on the rent returns for that type of unit, the rent demand, and check out the unit size – smaller than 50 m/s are hard to get finance for.

Also look at the demographic trends; is the population increasing/decreasing, are there projects in progress or planned (in local council) for improvemets such as better roads, public transport, new shopping malls, take-away joints, schools, hospitals.
These sorts of things signal increasing population.

The "Cairns One" development; how many units are there? Keep in mind that many units in an apartment complex may mean lots of competition for tenants from other investors who buy in there. Go for more boutique, unique and smaller complexes with 20 units or less.

Also look at the comparable cost of a house and land with subdivision potential in the future. It may be better to spend a bit more money and go this path, and you can add a lot more value to the investment than you can with a new unit/apartment.