After two consecutive quarters of strong sales activity, prices in Darwin’s northern suburbs are set for an upswing, said Raine & Horne Darwin, general manager Glenn Grantham.
Houses located in Jingili, Karama and Anula, are attracting 30-40 groups to open homes, with many selling it within three weeks of reaching the market, said Grantham.
“There was a bounce in buyer activity in the second half of last year, which is contributing to a boost in the prices of quality, well-located properties in Darwin’s northern suburbs.
“Historically when values in the northern suburbs improve, this creates a ripple effect that eventually flows south to Palmerston,” he said.
Grantham said while values in Darwin’s north will rise in the medium term and advised vendors with properties in the city and the south to be patient.
“Regardless of where you live, to cash-in on current market activity, a property must be well-presented and priced sensibly to sell.
Other hurdles to a swift sale might include rental properties with long-term tenants, which are not realising competitive yields.
“A Darwin property is generating a gross yield of less than four percent will be harder to shift in the shorter-term.
“The bottom line is that properties with a few flies on them will be harder to sell now. However, when the momentum picks up across Darwin, they’ll wash through the market too.”
Owner-occupiers continue to dominate the Darwin market with more interstate investors enquiries increasing.
“We have a Sydney investor who wants to use his self-managed fund (SMSF) to buy a property worth $470,000 and that will rent for $475 a week. This is a stronger return than Sydney real estate or other asset classes such as cash and fixed interest.
“We have plenty of product in the Darwin market that will tick the boxes for investors from the southern states.”
Since the start of the year Raine & Horne Darwin has leased 100 properties.
“This is roughly two leases a day since the beginning of the year, and we have strong demand for rental properties from tradespeople, and public and private sector workers, moving to Darwin now for work,” Grantham said.
There are several planned and committed infrastructure projects set to begin in Darwin including the $500 million upgrade of HMAS Coonawarra and Larrakeyah Barracks, and the $250 million Darwin Luxury Hotel development.
“These projects will help underpin employment, and in turn Darwin’s property market.”
