Rising rents, low stock and high demand: Darwin housing market woes continue

Darwin has beaten out the rest of the nation as the place to be for landlords keen on making a profit. See how prices in your suburb have changed over the past year.

Darwin has topped the nation as the place most profitable for landlords, with new data revealing the city’s rental returns on investment are the highest of all capital cities and regional areas in the country.

The current yield rate in Darwin is 6.41 per cent, beating out runner up Perth’s 4.87 per cent by a wide margin and sitting more than 60 per cent above the national average, according to CoreLogic’s June rental insights report.

The Top End has avoided the double-digit rent increase felt in most other capital cities over the past year, but the Real Estate Institute of NT says low vacancy rates, growing population and continuing interest rate hikes mean the Territory’s housing crisis is nowhere near slowing.

“Are there enough houses when people want them? The simple answer is no,” REINT chief executive Aswin De Silva said.

Real Estate Institute NT CEO Aswin De Silva says the Territory’s housing market remains tight for both buyers and renters.

“The concern is that interest rates hikes are going to hinder a lot of first home buyers, folks are finding it difficult to get into the market.

“The rental yield will likely go up because more people will be looking for rentals, so we need to ensure there’s affordable stock … stock isn’t keeping up with demand.”

Median rent in Darwin sits at $596, up 4.2 per cent year-on-year - a much softer growth than Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth which all had jumps of more than 10 per cent.

Vacancy rates have remained consistently low in Darwin over the past 12 months, with just 1.4 per cent of properties on the market.

Mr De Silva said it was a different story in the rest of the Territory.

“Vacancy rates are much higher in Katherine and Alice Springs, people are breaking the lease and leaving in large part due to social issues, vacancies are around 6 per cent,” he said.

Changes in rents and house prices also vary suburb to suburb.

In Darwin, Nakara had the biggest jump in rents, rising 9.7 per cent over the past year to a median price of $689.

Millner had the second biggest change, increasing 8.2 per cent to $504.

There were only two suburbs where rent prices went backwards: Wulagi dropped 2.3 per cent to $594 and Anula fell 1.8 per cent to $615.

Search the interactive map to see how your suburb compares

Originally published as Rising rents, low stock and high demand: Darwin housing market woes continue