THERE was a time when there was so much foreign investment in Cairns and Australian property that some people grumbled about the whole country being up for sale.
In Cairns, those days seemed to come to an end with the collapse of the Daikyo property investment company which once owned iconic places like Green Island and Paradise Palms.
Remaining investment has been hard hit by the global financial crisis which scattered the securities of many of the world’s most wealthy people.
These wealthy or "beautiful" people were among those likely to buy swanky apartments in Port Douglas.
Ray White Port Douglas and Mossman principal Alan Crossman said in the past year he had more business selling from, rather than to, overseas investors.
He said overseas investment had tended to come from Europeans and Britons based in Asia who had a link to Australia.
Although 2009 was better than 2008, Mr Crossman said it had been a tough time finding overseas investment.
"I went to Japan a few months ago to see if there were any interested buyers and they were more interested in selling something to me," he said.
Mr Crossman said there had been little indication, so far, that investors from Russia or the Arab world were ready to fill the breach in Port Douglas.
There is some light at the end of the tunnel, however. Earlier this year, the Federal Government relaxed foreign property investment laws, making buying a property easier for an overseas-based person.
"The year 2010 might be a bit unpredictable, but I think Port Douglas will always have foreign investment here as we are such a well-recognised market," Mr Crossman said.
Herron Todd White property analyst Rick Carr said about 5-10 per cent of new Cairns apartments were bought by people with an overseas address, though many were ex-pat Australians.
"A lot of the Japanese property has been divested but there is still some Singaporean ownership of hotels and resorts,’’ he said.
"The days of a company like Daikyo buying and developing a ‘greenfield’ site are long gone.
"China has shown an interest in overseas investment, but they are looking at mineral resources, not places to accommodate their tourists."
