Bix

Boom in building

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

A BOOMING construction sector and the role of education in the Far North were key points to come out of the 2007 Cairns Report.
The report, which was officially launched at Sofitel Reef Hotel Casino yesterday and prepared by Cairns Chamber of Commerce, examines the major industries and sectors driving the Cairns economy.
It revealed construction projects in the Far North were now worth more than $10.26 billion at a time when the tourism industry was enduring a tough patch.
In the construction sector, projects worth about $4.8 billion were based in Cairns, along with $2.29 billion between Innisfail and Cardwell, $1.17 billion between Cape York and Cooktown and $1.1 billion at Port Douglas.
Chamber president Jeremy Blockey said with the population in the Far North increasing, the development industry would grow. "We are getting a different mix of houses and a high number of inner-city living apartments," he said.
Writing about education in the report, Mr Blockey praised James Cook University for "recognising the potential" of the Cairns campus and developing new facilities here.
"The chamber will continue to support JCU’s ambitions to enhance the Cairns campus, which should return dividends to businesses in years to come with increased skill levels," he wrote.
Mr Blockey also praised TNQ Institute of TAFE for its SchoolTech program, where students learn vocational skills while finishing school.
In the mining sector, the report said the value of the region’s mines was likely to grow and the sector was already worth millions to Cairns through drilling, labour hire contracts and shut-down crews.
Meanwhile, a proposed bauxite mine by Chalco could help turn Cairns into a regional mining hub.
Despite pledges of additional funding from the Federal Government, the report said a lack of flood proofing was still a problem on major roads.
Mr Blockey said the chamber had allocated extra resources into responding to the Far North Queensland 2025 regional plan, due for release next month. "This is the first of the regional plans to be statutory, giving it far more weight than any of its predecessors," he wrote.
The report noted the growth in visitor numbers from China and Korea, even as the Japanese market had faded a little.
Tourism is still worth $2.4 billion to the Cairns economy a year.



Copied from Cairns.com.au

youngy73

i would take this with a pinch of salt. cairns is on the brink of a melt down as far as construction goes.

windog

I think you'll find its more like one or two large companies are themselves in danger of "meltdown" through 'imprudent financial planning' (AKA greed!) but that will not prevent other constructors in more stable financial condition from filling the void if they do 'go to the wall'. That is not to say we are immune from an expected 'corection' in the domestic house market in respect of prices, but the demand is likely to stay high, as elswhere, so I dont think Cairns is in all the bad a possion.

Bix

Jobs boom from hospital revamp

Tyron Butson
Thursday, April 17, 2008
© The Cairns Post

THE $450 million revamp of Cairns Base Hospital is expected to generate an extra 4800 jobs during the construction phase and give the Far Northern economy a timely shot in the arm.
Work is expected to start in early 2009 and continue for five years in a major expansion of the hospital that will deliver a new block and increase capacity to 540 beds.
Industry figures said the massive project came at the right time after a recent slowdown.
"This certainly will be a spike for our economy," Urban Development Institute of Australia Cairns branch president Mathew Byrne told The Cairns Post.
"For construction especially, we’re looking at a boost."
In a surprise announcement on Tuesday, the State Government said it would sell the Cairns airport to fund the hospital redevelopment and the purchase of a large tract of land on the city’s south for a future new hospital.
Premier Anna Bligh committed to building a new facility but said it would likely not be needed for 15 years unless demand meant it would have to be brought
forward.
The building industry yesterday predicted a jobs boon for the Far North’s construction industry which has been hit by a spate of redundancies and restructuring by companies including CEC.
Economist Bill Cummings said the hospital revamp would generate at least 2400 jobs directly related to construction and building, with at least that number again employed in the service industry as a flow-on effect.
"This will help the construction industry run at a higher level," he said.
Mr Byrne said the recent decline meant many sub-contractors were looking for work.
"For the first time in a long time I have builders and sub contractors coming to me asking for jobs – not the other way around," he said.
"The sub-contract market has been stretched before, but not
currently.
"A lot of them have been shelved because of a slowing down, so this is good for tradies."
The State Government is yet to begin the tender process.
As part of the project, the long-mooted Block D will be built on the site of the existing car park.
A dedicated day surgery unit and expanded services for heart, elderly and cancer patients will also be added.

Bix

Building boom busts

Bronwyn Cummings
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
© The Cairns Post

STATIC house prices and a 50 per cent drop in new building approvals are signs the Cairns real estate boom is over, analysts say.
The median house price in Cairns rose just 1 per cent to $376,000 in the six months to February, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released yesterday.
The figures come as just 88 applications for single dwellings were approved by Cairns Regional Council in March, compared with 186 in March last year.
The figures are clear signs the boom is over, property adviser Herron Todd White's research director Rick Carr said.
"There is a lot more nervousness out there in the market," he said.
"Possibly the market has over-reacted because the economy is still robust and the population is still growing."
In his monthly Cairns Watch report, Mr Carr said the property market had turned from a sellers' market to a more balanced negotiating position between buyer and seller.
On the home building front, the number of approvals in Cairns dropping by more than half in March should bring shorter waiting times in the construction market.
Mr Carr said he was uncertain whether the drop was attributable to distractions around the council amalgamation or if it was the start of a new trend.
Builder Shane Pratt said the market had been playing it safe since the federal election last year and the continual rises in interest rates.
"And the land price has caught up too," Mr Pratt said.
He said long waiting times for building, which in recent years had extended to months before new homes could be started, were reducing.
Overall building applications for all classes including additions such as verandas are up for the 2007/08 financial year to 1812 applications approved, compared with 1489 for the same period last year.
In the financial year so far, the council ticked off 3265 building applications, including units, shop fitouts, sheds and swimming pools, compared with 2814 applications last year.
But in March, the market played it safe with the total number of building applications from all classes reversing the yearly trend and dropping from 242 in 2007 to 126 in 2008.
Planning application approvals - Material Change of Use, Reconfiguring a Lot and Combined - dropped by 11 to 463 by the end of March including live applications from the former Douglas Shire, compared with 472 for the same period last year.
So far this financial year, 1450 lots have been created, slightly up on last year's 1311 for the same period.
The number of units created has also increased from 877 in the 2006/07 period until March to 1139 this year.

youngy73

maybe im not as stupid as i look