Northern Territory property market strong, latest property data reveals

The Top End property market was as hot as the weather in the first quarter of this year with both sales and median prices showing solid gains after the year kicked off a ‘flurry of buying activity’, new data reveals.

THE Top End property market was as hot as the weather in the first quarter of this year with both sales and median prices showing solid gains after the year kicked off a “flurry of buying activity”, according to a property market expert.

Chief Executive Officer of the Real Estate Institute of Northern Territory (REINT), Quentin Kilian, said Palmerston had exceptional sales volumes with 115 properties sold – up 13.9 per cent quarterly and up 62 per cent annually.

“The March 2021 Quarter saw a 10.8 per cent quarterly increase in sales volumes, which was up a solid 51.1 per cent from last year”, said Mr Kilian.

The median price of a 3-bedroom house also saw solid gains, up 9.4 per cent in the quarter to come in at $547,000. “That’s a 16.4 per cent boost from last year’s median.

The Palmerston median price also lifted by 7.5 per cent to $500,000, which was 17.6 per cent higher than March quarter 2020.

The promising statistics come after more than five years of what is described by experts the most depressed property market the Territory has seen in decades, where almost a decade of capital gains was wiped away.

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Down south Alice Springs quietened a little this quarter but still showed a strong performance with 77 transactions,” Mr Kilian said.

“This was up 71 per cent annually. The median house price was $469,000.”

Unit/ Townhouse market

The Unit / Townhouse market showed equally strong results to start the year with sales up by 4.3 per cent for the quarter and up 43.3 per cent annually.

The median price of a 2-bedroom unit continued to climb, up 3.1 per cent this quarter to $330,000, which is a 9 per cent increase on last year.

“Palmerston had very solid sales in Units this quarter, up 29.4 per cent for the quarter with the median coming up 30.6 per cent to $320,000,” Mr Kilian said.

Alice Springs saw a quieter quarter for sales volumes, but did see a small increase in median price to $360,000.

Land Sales

Residential land sales continued very strongly in the March Quarter with blocks up to 2000 sqm very popular with sales lifting by 62.5 per cent in the quarter, which is 550 per cent more than sold in the same quarter last year.

Rental Market

The rental market stayed strong, with rents on 3-bedroom houses rising 6 per cent in the quarter to $538.50 per week, which is an annual rise of 17.3 per cent.

Vacancy rates have tightened again from December, coming back to 1.8 per cent across Greater Darwin; 1.6 per cent in Palmerston and 2.4 per cent in Alice Springs. Unit vacancies in the Rural area have hit 0 per cent.

The 2021 March Quarter RELM (Real Estate Local Market) Report can be downloaded from www.reint.com.au.

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