Things are looking up for Darwin's residential property market, with its median house values rising by 1.8%, making it the first increase in more than 15 months, according to the Real Estate Institute of the Northern Territory’s Local Market Report for March.
The first few months of the year are historically beneficial for the market, according to Derek Hart, Elders residential property consultant.
“This quarter is always the most positive. There’s new people coming into Darwin and there’s an influx of people wanting to buy instead of rent," he told realestate.com.au. "Renting is dead money. Why pay someone else’s mortgage when you can pay your own?”
Hart also advised buyers to have their finances ready before securing a property.
“Get your finances approved and get out on the weekend, look at as many properties as you can and agents will do private showings if time doesn’t suit,” he told realestate.com.au. “If you can afford to buy and afford the mortgage, definitely get out there and buy where the market is at the moment.”
A homebuyer named Louise Cooke shared her experience in purchasing after settling into a new home around Easter.
“We had the long-term frame of mind to live in Darwin and to own. We got to a point where we were sick of renting, especially with a family," she told realestate.com.au. “Two or three years ago buying wasn’t in our realm of possibility, but once the prices dropped, there were houses we could feasibly see ourselves living in.”
Cooke recommended Aussies to strike while the iron is hot. “Now is the time, especially for families who are sick of renting and people who just want a home,” she said.
