Monday, October 6, 2014

'The current market is beneficial for buyers, if they're savvy...'


Here’s an excerpt from an interview I did with Miriam Bell from Your Investment Property magazine....

'However, Peterson’s Property Search founder, Tod Peterson believes the current market is beneficial for buyers. ‘They have more leverage and more negotiating power in this climate. As long as they are savvy, there are good opportunities for buyers to come into the market.’

 ‘It’s worth noting that Darwin properties are also still pulling in the highest rents in the country’, Tod says. The latest RP Data figures show that this is indeed the case, with Darwin houses recording a yield of 5.9% and the city’s units posting a 6% yield.

‘Accommodation is still tight up here. It can be a bit seasonal and demand is always strongest during the Dry season. But, overall, demand remains high, especially when you take short-term rentals into account.’

Despite the more subdued environment dominating the market, there have been some noteworthy developments in recent times.

One such development is the Territory Government’s drive to promote the Top End’s resources to China. The goal is to attract big agricultural and infrastructure projects. A similar tactic was successfully used with Japan and resulted in the Inpex Project. As a result of the Government’s efforts to reach out to China, Tod says he has been increasingly dealing with Chinese investors. While they have been interested in big blocks of land for food production and plantation purposes, this trend could impact on the NT market further down the track.

Another noteworthy development has been the state government’s efforts to deal with the aforementioned squeeze on accommodation. There have been house and land packages released in Palmerston and the northern suburbs of Lyons and Muirhead.

Tod says the state government is also interested in making use of infill land. ‘The release of this land is a cheaper way to deal with the accommodation problem – rather than setting up a whole new suburb and putting in headworks.’