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Well-priced Darwin properties located in the city’s popular inner and northern suburbs are finding plenty of buyers, according to Raine & Horne.
General manager at Raine & Horne Darwin Glenn Grantham said activity is trending upwards.
“In June, our office enjoyed its best start to a month in 2019, while each of our sale reps is averaging two to three transactions a month,” he said.
“I can’t speak for our competitors, but well-priced and well-marketed Darwin properties are finding buyers.”
Mr Grantham said some vendors are achieving stronger prices than were possible at the beginning of the year.
“For example, a four-bedroom elevated house in Moil sold recently for $20,000 more than when it hit the market in January.
“This property has been under contract several times since December 2018, with the transaction falling over due to financial or personal reasons for the buyers. In a case of third-time lucky, the Moil house has sold for 5 per cent more than the price it went under contract for initially at the end of 2018.”
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Mr Grantham said this is not the only example.
“We’ve had several houses that we’ve sold after they went under contract a few times, and in every case, these properties are finally selling for 3 to 5 per cent more.”
Mr Grantham added that the buyers were also well relieved after several buying misses.
“The new owners said they’d been beaten to the punch by other buyers for every house they’d looked at in the northern suburbs in the same price range.”
Mr Grantham said stronger market conditions in the Darwin inner and northern suburbs are further indicators the market is returning to form.
“You don’t see consistent increases in pockets of the marketplace such as the inner and northern suburbs without reasoning we’ve turned a corner,” he said.
“Of course, the entire market doesn’t increase overnight. However, our leading demand areas always increase first, and we’re watching all those suburbs grow in value. Residential properties popular with mum and dad buyers priced from $400,000 to $600,000 and located in the city’s northern and inner suburbs represent the buying sweet spot.”
January
Earlier in the year, Mr Grantham had anticipated this uptick, saying in January that the Darwin market looks set for a robust 2019.
He said then that private inspection numbers were up significantly over the holiday period, after December had produced a four-fold surge in sales.
“We rarely have private showings over the Christmas break, yet we had requests for 18 different homes in Darwin between 24 December and 4 January,” he said at the time.
Mr Grantham added that this renewed buyer interest had continued into January.
“The highest open for inspection average we enjoyed last year was 1.8 groups per property, so the robust early-year activity bodes well for 2019.
“We even had groups of five through some properties, and every single property attracted plenty of attention through the front door.”
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