It’s been another interesting year for the Darwin rental property market this year. Demand that we saw throughout 2021 continued, which has been great for investors. It’s definitely been an investors market again this year!
Outside of the property market, this year has certainly presented its own set of challenges, which, in turn have affected property prices and availability. We’ve all bared witness to the rising inflation and cost of living pressures. As a result, we’re all feeling the pinch of fuel price hikes, increase of cost of construction and ascending interest rates.
While many are questioning what options are available should things really hit the fan, there are many variables that need to be considered both locally, nationally and internationally. On that note, let’s take a look into how the Darwin property market has fared in 2022.
First Quarter 2022 – Darwin Rental Property Market
Apart from Inner Darwin, the median weekly house rentals held well. 3-bedroom rentals in Palmerston continued to report a strong increase in pricing, reaching $530 per week. In comparison to the previous quarter, unit rental yield remained largely unchanged. With regards to vacancy rates, throughout all locations in Darwin, this number was trending down.
January 2022
In late December 2021, we saw a softening of rental prices in the greater Darwin region, likely as a result of the number of people leaving the Territory exceeding the number of people arriving in the Territory.
January is traditionally the busiest month of the year with leasing, and in 2022, we saw steady demand. The number of properties advertised for rent in the greater Darwin region throughout January 2022 remained between $495 and $540.
March 2022
Throughout March, there was a drop of approximately 22% in the number of properties advertised for rent.
While there were a good level of enquiries for properties, potential tenants were submitting several applications for properties due to limited availability.
Second Quarter 2022 –
Darwin Rental Property Market
Unit rental increases in Darwin saw a big upshot during the June quarter, with a 2-bedroom unit increasing year-on-year by 10% (comparatively, 3-bedroom houses increased by 3%). Similarly, rental yields also slowed down to 5.6% and 5.1% respectively. Perhaps unsurprisingly, vacancy rates in Darwin remained lower for units than houses, further reinforcing the strength in the investors market.
Third Quarter 2022 –
Darwin Rental Property Market
As changes to interest rates and the increased cost of living started to become felt, the September quarter highlighted the importance of evaluating rental yields. It was noted that yields in Darwin were far less that of yield in other Territory regions. However, vacancy rates in Darwin were the lowest they’ve been recorded for the last five years.
July 2022
Post election and RBA updates, come July (and the new fiscal year), we did start to see a slight increase in the number of properties advertised for rent in the Greater Darwin region.
The number of properties available for rent in the Greater Darwin Region increased by approximately 20.5%. However, the market was still considered to be a landlord’s market and interest in properties available for rent remained consistent.
September 2022
Come September, the number of properties available for rent in the Greater Darwin Region remained steady.
Fourth Quarter 2022 –
Darwin Rental Property Market
In the lead up to the wet season and end of year period, we did begin to see a decrease in the number of enquiries for properties, which is expected in the lead up to the Christmas period. However, we do anticipate an increase in demand in the new year, as January is traditionally the busiest month of the year.
October 2022
Coming into October, the number of properties available for rent in the Greater Darwin Region increased.
During that time, we also saw a number of properties move from the AirBnB market to the rental market, due to demand decreases as we entered into the wet season.
We also saw an increase of interest for properties from defence personnel relocating to the Top End from other states.
November 2022
Around this time, we did start to see a few break leases with tenants predominantly relocating interstate, as well as a decrease in the number of enquiries for properties heading into the Christmas period.
December 2022
Early in the month, we have started to receive enquiries from potential tenants arriving in the Territory mid to late January, so we’re expecting January to be a busy month!
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* Statistics and figures gathered from REINT 2022 RELM reports