Darwin 2009

Median house price: $482,000 – 13.35% increase in last 12 months.
Median unit price: $377,000 – 16.52% increase in last 12 months.

We’ll conclude the capital city roundup with Darwin, which has outperformed all other markets over the past year. Somehow Darwin’s property sector was insulated from the Global Financial Crisis, with locals and investors showing continued confidence in Darwin real estate.

This seems to have been a bit of an anomaly because the local economy wasn’t really going gang busters and population growth in the north hasn’t been that significant. In fact, I think Darwin represents a bit of a property bubble for Australia and is probably at around the same stage that Perth was about two years ago.

Prices have come off a very low base and risen to such heady heights that we are now looking at the peak of the cycle, so I would tread carefully if you’re an investor considering buying in Darwin right now.

Yes, there is a shortage of rental properties in Darwin at the moment, which makes for attractively high rental yields. But as we know, you should always invest for the long-term capital growth prospects, over and above high rental yields. In fact I would caution that Darwin property values will drop as we head into 2010, just as we saw occur in Perth two years ago and Sydney six years ago.