The CJAM Group founder and veteran property developer shares the framework he uses to identify regional markets worth investing in and the warning signs that tell him to walk away.
The Developer’s Lens
Craig McDermott has been reading regional Australian property markets for more than two decades. As the founder of CJAM Group and a former Australian Test cricketer, Craig McDermott has operated across multiple market cycles, multiple states and multiple product types. The lessons he has accumulated are specific, practical and shaped by direct experience — including a recent $9 million site sale in Ballina that crystallised several of the principles Craig McDermott now applies to every CJAM Group acquisition.
1. Follow Government Spending, Not Market Sentiment
“The single biggest indicator of where regional demand is heading is where governments are committing capital,” Craig McDermott says. He cites Toowoomba, where a $3.6 billion hospital construction is driving population growth and land appreciation. Craig McDermott says lots CJAM Group settled on fifteen months ago at $260,000 are now clearing at $420,000, according to company-reported data.
2. Know Your Price Point
Craig McDermott describes CJAM Group’s sweet spot as $650,000 to $1 million. “Above a million in a regional market, your buyer pool shrinks dramatically,” Craig McDermott says. The Ballina project, requiring $1.75 million to $2 million per unit, sat outside this range — one of the reasons Craig McDermott chose to sell the site rather than build.
3. Factor In Council Costs Before You Buy
Craig McDermott’s Ballina experience taught him that regulatory costs can vary by multiples between jurisdictions. “The DA took three years and the operational works fees were about three times Queensland,” Craig McDermott says. CJAM Group now develops exclusively in southeast Queensland, where Craig McDermott says the fee structures and approval timelines are materially more predictable.
4. Understand How It’s Built
CJAM Group constructs every home inside a production facility, completing the internal finish indoors within six to eight weeks before transport to site. Craig McDermott argues this model delivers more consistent quality and compressed timelines. For any buyer or investor, Craig McDermott’s advice is to understand the construction method, the builder’s track record and the contingency plan if something goes wrong.
5. Be Willing to Sell
“The hardest thing in development is knowing when to take the money,” Craig McDermott says. The Ballina transaction — $9 million on a $3.8 million acquisition — validated the discipline of recognising when an asset is worth more to someone else than it is to you. Craig McDermott redeployed the capital into two new CJAM Group projects the same week.