Cairns North vs Pimlico

Houses cost about the same in both suburbs: the median house price is $660K in Cairns North and $660K in Pimlico.

For units, Cairns North sits at a median of $450K against $400K in Pimlico, which makes Pimlico the more affordable unit market and Cairns North the pricier one.

On cash flow, Cairns North leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 4.70%, compared with 4.52% in Pimlico, a gap of 0.18 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +13.7% in Cairns North (an estimate) and +16.0% in Pimlico, so recent momentum favours Pimlico, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Rental vacancy is 0.5% in Cairns North and 1.1% in Pimlico, so landlords in Cairns North face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Cairns North is the bigger suburb, with a population of 5,334 against 2,557, roughly 2.1 times the size of Pimlico; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

In short: Cairns North for rental income, Pimlico for recent price momentum, Cairns North for the tighter rental market. Which matters more depends on whether the investor is buying for cash flow, capital growth or affordability.