Highlights of the 2018 Northern Territory market
The Northern Territory market rarely makes headlines, but it got some runs on the board for investors in 2018 despite an overall slide in values.
The Northern Territory is often overlooked due to its size, and this year saw its property market not perform very well at all, according to LJ Hooker’s head of research Mathew Tiller.
“The problem with the Northern Territory market is that the economy is heavily reliant on the mining and resource sectors,” Mr Tiller said to Smart Property Investment.
“There’s been … one major gas project going up there at the moment that’s really driving the economy, but it hasn’t done anything to support local employment or help the housing market.”
As with any market, population growth is a key driver in the Northern Territory market, and Mr Tiller pointed out that population growth for the territory has been flat over the last 12 months, which in turn resulted in a lack of job support, and this means there is a lack of demand for housing in the area.
“The market up there has gone back by round about, 3 or 4 percent this year and I couldn’t really pick out any region for you that has outperformed any other,” Mr Tiller said.
“Overall the economy and property market has been not very strong.”
Despite this outlook, a few areas in the Northern Territory saw mild success over the last 12 months, with Zuccoli houses rising 11.8 per cent to $180,000. Other highlights include Humpty Doo houses with a rise of 5.4 per cent to $590,000 and Howard Springs houses with a rise of 2.5 per cent to $625,000.
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