Darwin?
- Thread starter BMan
- Start date
What does your research show?
2 minutes on Domain answers some of your questions.
http://www.domain.com.au/public/suburbprofile.aspx?searchTerm=0800&mode=buy
Or did you mean one of the other 40-odd suburbs?
I am originally from the USA and work in the oil industry in Australia, mainly in the NT. I enjoy Darwin a great deal but it reminds me of boom-time Texas and Louisiana of the early 80s. Nobody ever thought that the good times would ever end. And when the boom was over, property prices slumped and vacancies abounded. High yielding properties became low yielding properties. It took almost 15 years to come back again.......
Put simply, Darwin seems very overpriced. There is no other way to describe it. Nic eplace. Just damn expensive as far as property goes. And tenants - people like me - seem very transient. Dealing with people who come and go is not easy.
FWIW I have chosen to invest in an unfashionable part of bayside Melbourne where I have 9 houses on larger blocks that can someday be redeveloped.
Put simply, Darwin seems very overpriced. There is no other way to describe it. Nic eplace. Just damn expensive as far as property goes. And tenants - people like me - seem very transient. Dealing with people who come and go is not easy.
FWIW I have chosen to invest in an unfashionable part of bayside Melbourne where I have 9 houses on larger blocks that can someday be redeveloped.
Chelsea? Edithvale?
It's got to be Frankston.
Bman,
I have one IP in Darwin. Bought in 2005. Has almost doubled in price since then.
Gross rental yield is about 5.5%. Managing agent fees are high (one charged 9% + 0.9% gst). Rates are high. Think 3 airconditioners with high service costs (tradies are expensive). Termite treatments/top-ups required annually. Transient population so higher than normal turnover in tenants.
I still think there are good capital gains to be had.. Salaries are high compared with most of Australia. LNG processing expansion/army/cattle and mineral exports/tourism. There is more LNG processing and related industry coming to Darwin.
Managing agents are referring to present economic conditions as the boom.
I'd be interested to see what Kero's views are on Darwin-I think he has an IP in the same suburb as me. I recently changed agents and managed to get managing agent fee of 6% + 0.6 gst
I have one IP in Darwin. Bought in 2005. Has almost doubled in price since then.
Gross rental yield is about 5.5%. Managing agent fees are high (one charged 9% + 0.9% gst). Rates are high. Think 3 airconditioners with high service costs (tradies are expensive). Termite treatments/top-ups required annually. Transient population so higher than normal turnover in tenants.
I still think there are good capital gains to be had.. Salaries are high compared with most of Australia. LNG processing expansion/army/cattle and mineral exports/tourism. There is more LNG processing and related industry coming to Darwin.
Managing agents are referring to present economic conditions as the boom.
I'd be interested to see what Kero's views are on Darwin-I think he has an IP in the same suburb as me. I recently changed agents and managed to get managing agent fee of 6% + 0.6 gst
diversification : )
I have a couple of clients like you
Specialise in a particular area and go to town, much like Buffets idea of diversification in shares/equities
ta
rolf
how are you ajax? My property is in Durack. bought it roughly the same time as you. land was cheap then. I remember a developer offering me one block in roseberry for $45k!
add to the ajax's list of employment opportunities, there is also the NT police dept. they have about 500 staff posted permanently and temporarily. for those temp staff, they provide quite a good rent subsidy. they have been my tenant since i first rented the property out.
without this property in darwin, i won't be able to finance the others I bought after. this one has been good to me. cash flow positive after 3 years. Recent sales similar to the one I own was $550k to $560k, rent as of May will be $575 pw.
i won't be buying in Darwin again as one of my investment criteria is to buy below $350k. Things are also getting very expensive, termite spray cost me $520 last year. Monthly insurance including landlord insurance is costing me $140 per mth!!!! rates are also exp- $1500. so maintenance for the property is not cheap.
add to the ajax's list of employment opportunities, there is also the NT police dept. they have about 500 staff posted permanently and temporarily. for those temp staff, they provide quite a good rent subsidy. they have been my tenant since i first rented the property out.
without this property in darwin, i won't be able to finance the others I bought after. this one has been good to me. cash flow positive after 3 years. Recent sales similar to the one I own was $550k to $560k, rent as of May will be $575 pw.
i won't be buying in Darwin again as one of my investment criteria is to buy below $350k. Things are also getting very expensive, termite spray cost me $520 last year. Monthly insurance including landlord insurance is costing me $140 per mth!!!! rates are also exp- $1500. so maintenance for the property is not cheap.
Muirhead - Darwin
Hello Friends
Last week I completed a 4 bed house in new suburb Muirhead. I received lot of interest on the property from sales agents, and the range they are talking is exactly the same I would sell it after 1 year. I am happy that already I got CG what I expected after 1 year but on the other side I have to think about Tax on full CG because it is sold before 1 year hold time.
Recently I burnt my fingers with my other investment property in Gladstone. I bought it for 530K, last year it was asked for 540K, now I want to sell because I need money but the market rate is 490K!
I understand that Darwin market is more controlled than Gladstone but still I am not very confident.
Any suggestion? Is it good to hold or sell it without worry about additional tax? I am talking about roughly another 35K on tax.
Hello Friends
Last week I completed a 4 bed house in new suburb Muirhead. I received lot of interest on the property from sales agents, and the range they are talking is exactly the same I would sell it after 1 year. I am happy that already I got CG what I expected after 1 year but on the other side I have to think about Tax on full CG because it is sold before 1 year hold time.
Recently I burnt my fingers with my other investment property in Gladstone. I bought it for 530K, last year it was asked for 540K, now I want to sell because I need money but the market rate is 490K!
I understand that Darwin market is more controlled than Gladstone but still I am not very confident.
Any suggestion? Is it good to hold or sell it without worry about additional tax? I am talking about roughly another 35K on tax.
Everywhere has some bad areas, I was just reading about some of Darwins
Kurringal Flats
and
Shiers Street, the Narrows
Kurringal Flats
and
Shiers Street, the Narrows
Any thoughts on this !
I'd hazard a guess that you own a 4 bedroom house in one of the newer areas in Gladstone?
I was looking at Darwin quite a few years ago when I was there on a short holiday. I remember being told by a tour guide who had absolutely no idea that I invested in property that Darwin was the only capital city where renting is more expensive than owning. I don't know if that's true now but if so then it has been quite a long term "boom".
Would I buy in Darwin now? Still a possibility as as far as I'm concerned there is enough demand there to fuel long term property gains in both capital growth and rental income. I would be looking at the more upmarket areas such as Nightcliffe, Fannie Bay and Cullen Bay but they are pretty exy.
Would I buy in Darwin now? Still a possibility as as far as I'm concerned there is enough demand there to fuel long term property gains in both capital growth and rental income. I would be looking at the more upmarket areas such as Nightcliffe, Fannie Bay and Cullen Bay but they are pretty exy.
YES , in Vantage
Just from driving through them and basing it on investment stock vs owner occupied I'd stick to Little Creek and Emmadale Gardens and maybe some parts of Calliope or Boyne Island. Depends on what you're looking for but there seems to be some good packages around Stella Street and Wanda Drive in Boyne.
The house and land packages from Devine in Riverstone Rise are well priced compared to a lot of other stock but I've heard there will be a lot of investor stock in there too, not sure if this bothers many people but I'd try to avoid that.
The house and land packages from Devine in Riverstone Rise are well priced compared to a lot of other stock but I've heard there will be a lot of investor stock in there too, not sure if this bothers many people but I'd try to avoid that.
We have three IP's in Darwin and have been waiting a while for the pulse to begin flowing again. The longest hold we have is 20 years cost $89k value today $500k (very JS). Attended a talk by a valuer last week and his points included:
New stock (units) are smaller than last year. 3 bedroom into 80sqm.
A big sale in Cullen Bay may well reset prices up in that area.
Affordability is an issue.
Still a lot of expensive units available, perhaps a softening in that price range.
The current first home buyers setup maybe distorting prices in the Northern suburbs to get just under the $600k limit.
The audience were divided on what affect Inpex will have, I thinks rents will continue to increase and our properties are jumping in rent as we renew for example $520 p/w to $580 p/w this last time.
We have held 1 IP in Gladstone for 4 years and today it has just gone vacant for the first time and I am not anticipating a return to the high rent but there may be a little life left ...
Regards
Nick
New stock (units) are smaller than last year. 3 bedroom into 80sqm.
A big sale in Cullen Bay may well reset prices up in that area.
Affordability is an issue.
Still a lot of expensive units available, perhaps a softening in that price range.
The current first home buyers setup maybe distorting prices in the Northern suburbs to get just under the $600k limit.
The audience were divided on what affect Inpex will have, I thinks rents will continue to increase and our properties are jumping in rent as we renew for example $520 p/w to $580 p/w this last time.
We have held 1 IP in Gladstone for 4 years and today it has just gone vacant for the first time and I am not anticipating a return to the high rent but there may be a little life left ...
Regards
Nick
Hi Nick,
Being located in the Gladstone area I can say I'm confident that there will be a resurgence in rental prices here as the three major projects here are yet to really ramp up, the QCLNG plant is yet to reach peak employment and it is the site that has progressed the furthest.
Although quite a lot of the workforce will be FIFO the camp on this site is almost at full capacity so the rest of the new members of the workforce need somewhere to live if they weren't already local.
Being located in the Gladstone area I can say I'm confident that there will be a resurgence in rental prices here as the three major projects here are yet to really ramp up, the QCLNG plant is yet to reach peak employment and it is the site that has progressed the furthest.
Although quite a lot of the workforce will be FIFO the camp on this site is almost at full capacity so the rest of the new members of the workforce need somewhere to live if they weren't already local.
