NT Darwin - is this the start of recovery?

Property manager friends are saying the rental market has been strong this year. I'm guessing under normal circumstances, that would result in an increase in sale prices as investors return to the market.
These aren't normal circumstances though......

 

Divorce.

 

Hi all, so I have a smallish shed in my backyard in Gunn that was built without certification. I’d bought the property anyway (I was young and dumb). Does anyone know what I have to do to get this shed certified/approved? Many thanks!

 

Yep, so you need an engineers certificate, building permit and occupancy certificate.

Go straight to BG Certifiers in Yarrawonga.

 

Thanks Longrass, really appreciate it. Do you happen to have an idea of what the cost of these 3 certificates are? Is this something I need to drag a bloke along to?

 

I’d imagine somewhere between $700 min and $1500 max. Hopefully your shed is a “brand name” one that has a manufacturers engineer certificate.

Barbara is the owner of BG certifiers, go see her, she will look after you

 

Thank you! Looks like this might not be as costly or scary as I thought it’d be.

 

Blocks in Muirhead seem to be moving very quickly now (post federal $25k incentive announcement); not sure on other greenfields Northcrest and Zuccoli......

 

As of today, there is not a single titled block of land under $300k in any green fields development.

October-December land releases all over 50% sold.

Mark my words, there will be no land available for sale until March next year within 2 weeks.

New crisis emerging for builders

 

But the 2000s prior to Inpex confirmation in 2008 still had strong population growth, mining related I think? It was hard to buy at the time, that's for sure!

 

That's really interesting Longrass. There were some yesterday!

 

Maybe it will bring forward Muirhead north and Lyons north.

 

I also agree, its a supply and demand issue. During the ichthys project there was massive demand for housing due to thousands of workers moving in. Yes, a lot of them where housed in workers camps but there where still a lot that needed housing due to a requirement for companies to seek "local" workers first. During this period everything became over priced due to high demand. So overpriced that locals couldn't afford to the increased costs, so a lot moved. Since inpex finished, all workers moved on, following the work leaving darwin with an over supply of housing and businesses. There are still new suburbs being built. A tonne of people bought during the peak and would like to sell up but will hold for as long as possible in a hope to get a price close to what they bought for. My thoughts on the darwin property market is, if you bought during the peak, hold in a hope these new projects go ahead, inpex new trains, conoco philips etc. This will bring population up slightly but nowhere near what it was during the peak. Prices will increase slightly, sell then. If the projects dont go ahead, prices can not increase much. There are way too many properties now, if you drive through the city nowadays, its dead quite. Businesses are selling up even the ones that have been around for 20 odd years. Its really sad to see. My wife and I have been investing since 2000. Lived in Darwin since 1999. Were waiting on a correction in the market, im still uncertain it's arrived. Those are my thoughts. Cheers

 

Agreed, although sales volume does seem to have increased in the last couple of months, purely reading from the alerts I have set up for the NT, perhaps due to investors being attracted to higher yields? I’m not on the ground so couldn’t comment with any real insight

 

I suspect it's simply due to Darwin hitting the bottom. Per capita income is high and the prices of property low.

 

I don’t think it’s investors chasing yields.

I know a lot of friends have purchased recently due to it simply being affordable now.

 

Sorry, I just read my post again and it looks like im saying Darwin is a bad investment. There are deals to be had here, mainly older properties. There are good deals to be found in any market and I agree, Darwin is at it's lowest in years. So, for most investors now would be a good time to get into the Darwin market, that will also be whats driving the market right now. If I was a family guy living in Darwin and didn't own a property, I would buy now. I just feel there are a lot of properties that are still trying to hold onto the inpex market price ranges and with reduced population these prices will need to drop or stay vacant. The market will rise again, how high will be dependant on population growth. I recently read a report that the Darwin population still dropping. Now im no expert but thats telling me something. Cheers

 

It would appear that there isn't much stock available at the moment. Not sure if it's because people aren't listing or people are buying....prolly a mix of both.

Anyway for the past few years the number of properties on the market at this time of year has been anywhere between 1300-1700.

At the moment it's under 1000.

 

Wonder if it's a national (COVID) pattern, or local .....

 

Let's find out.

Anyone else seeing a drop in listings?