The Northern Territory unit market is going from strength to strength new data reveals.
The Real Estate Institute of Northern Territory (REINT) released its December quarter property data, which reveals unit sales volumes and prices both climbed considerably.
“The standout performer again this quarter across Greater Darwin was unit sales, which were up 18.7 per cent in the quarter,” REINT Chief Executive Officer Quentin Kilian said.
“That is a whopping 113.6 per cent increase on the same time last year.”
Mr Kilian said the median price jumped 2.6 per cent in the quarter, to come in at $400,000, which was “the strongest we have seen in years”.
“That is 25 per cent stronger than the same time in 2020.”
Palmerston saw the most activity with unit sales up 63.4 per cent for the quarter, which is a huge 294.1 per cent better than last year.
Alice Springs saw strong sales, but a slight downward movement in the median price, which dropped 2.5 per cent to $312,000.
The housing market remained strong, although the December quarter saw a dampening in volumes.
Overall, Darwin saw sales come off 0.5 per cent for the quarter, but that still remains 50 per cent stronger than last year.
“While sales reduced slightly, the median price performed very strongly, moving up 3 per cent in the quarter to $592,500″, Mr Kilian said.
Palmerston again performed well with 163 sales for the quarter and a median of $560,000, which was a 9.1 per cent increase for the quarter. Alice Springs continued to show solid sales performance with the median climbing 5.2 per cent for the quarter to $510,000.
“One location often overlooked is Tennant Creek, but in the December quarter it saw the median price of houses rise by 9.8 per cent to $290,000.”
Vacancy rates continued to ease across Greater Darwin this quarter, pushing out 0.8 per cent to a vacancy rate of 2.7 per cent for the Greater Darwin/Palmerston region.
Vacancy rates relaxed 1.5 per cent in Alice Springs, taking its overall vacancy rate to 3 per cent, while Katherine’s vacancy rate eased 0.1 per cent, but remains tight at 1.1 per cent.
“This has helped to see an easing rents over the quarter with the benchmark median rent on a three-bedroom house easing 3.7 per cent to $567.00 per week and the benchmark median rent on a two-bedroom unit coming back 0.5 per cent to $421.00 per week.”
For the investor market, the movement in rents pulled yields back slightly this quarter.
The rental yield for Greater Darwin remained strong at 5 per cent for houses and 5.5 per cent for units.
Alice Springs continues to offer investors fabulous yields with houses there at 5.7 per cent and units at 7 per cent.
Investors also get great value on houses in Katherine where there is growing demand and limited supply.
“The picture across the Territory is one of continued strong demand but the pressure is on the supply side, particularly as there is little new stock coming to market,” Mr Kilian said.
“Rental demand remains high but at nearly 3 per cent vacancy rate it does free up more stock for renters. Investors continue to be interested in the Territory due to the strong yields on offer, and that should bring more stock back into the rental market.”
