Influx of construction jobs to drive Darwin real estate

They include the Desert Bloom Hydrogen project, a $15 billion off-grid facility in Central Australia that, at its peak, will employ more than 1,000 full-time construction jobs in Darwin and across multiple locations.

Plans for the Sun Cable solar farm in Tennant Creek – a project to provide power to Darwin and Singapore, with a price tag of $25 billion – are also progressing, with the construction of the submarine cable expected to bring thousands of jobs to the territory’s capital.

The next stage of the Barossa gas project will also commence in 2022, bringing with it additional employment opportunities.

And the city’s student cohort is also expected to get a boost with the development of the CBD campus of Charles Darwin University from April 2022.

“These are massive projects for the Northern Territory and will drive real estate prices long term.

“There have been plenty of infrastructure projects promised, but in 2022 we will start to see these projects come to fruition, and this means more jobs and demand for real estate,” Mr Grantham said.

Shrewd investors should strike now, in his opinion.

“We had a great year with sales up 100 per cent year on year, and with projects such as Desert Bloom Hydrogen in prospect, there is no reason we can’t achieve average annual growth of 11 per cent in 2022,” he forecast.

“The smart money has also noted that while Darwin investment property offers juicy yields, we have almost zero vacancy rates,” Mr Grantham added, noting the city’s yields of up to 8 per cent.

“If a property becomes vacant, it’s snapped up almost immediately, with the new tenants usually paying more to the landlord.” 

Rents increased by an average of 15 per cent in 2021, and Mr Grantham expects that growth to continue apace.

“We can’t see the shortage of rental properties changing anytime soon, especially as projects such Desert Bloom Hydrogen come online, and as such rental prices should increase next year by about 15 per cent again,” he said.