Darwin’s home market is experiencing a downturn, but the bright side is that it paves the way for potential investors to score great deals. In addition, the city’s investment property appears to have a positive outlook, according to a report by The Real Estate Conversation.
Darwin's property market has been rapidly declining since July 2017. This has led to a 24.5% slide from August 2016. Index results for December also showed that Darwin was down at -1.8% and -1.2% for the end of year quarter.
Quentin Kilian, chief executive of the Real Estate Institute of the Northern Territory, said that although the current conditions do not favour sellers, interested investors have the opportunity to snap up properties at bargain prices.
"[People] have to remember housing is a commodity-driven market,” he said. The surplus of stock attracts buyers because values are lower than usual and they expect a hefty profit as an outcome.
Moreover, a healthy capital growth awaits investors in the years to come. "A soft market like this is perfect for first-home buyers and investors, and when you couple that with low interest rates and Stamp Duty concessions for first-home buyers, you have the perfect buying opportunity," Kilian said in an interview with Williams Media.
Supporting the forecast above, rental vacancies decreased by 20% over the past few months. This is set to impact rental yields in Darwin, which are currently 5.8%—the highest in Australia.
“There’s no doubt our yields in Darwin are very good, and the only way is up given falling vacancy rates. I’m surprised with our healthy yields we don’t have more interstate investors coming to Darwin in droves,” said Glenn Grantham, general manager of Raine & Horne Darwin.
