Departing REINT CEO tips investors to keep tabs on Darwin

In his opinion, the state capital has failed to register on many investors’ radars purely because of its remote location, but on paper, it’s got great yields and the promise of major infrastructure projects that will only help to push rents up.

“One of the things we have found in the past, because Darwin in particular – or even Alice Springs – is so alien to a lot of southern investors, they look at these markets and they say, ‘Well, it’s outside my comfort zone’,” Mr Kilian explained during a recent episode of The Smart Property Investment Show.

For him, it’s a stumbling block that’s made the area something of a hidden gem for those willing to look at the numbers and invest from a distance.

“What you’ll be getting is rental yields that are well in excess of any other capital city in Australia. I would thoroughly urge anybody who’s looking at expanding their portfolio or getting a portfolio, have a serious look at the territory market,” he said.

Mr Kilian believes the recent experience of closed borders throughout the country and the ensuing necessity to use tech as a substitute for making purchases in person has helped counter the idea that the Northern Territory market is less accessible due to distance.

“With things like Zoom, you can tap into your real estate agents up here. You can talk directly to them. They can take you on site and show you rental properties using technology. It really is an opportunity for investors to get a good portfolio going and to get some good returns while the market’s hot up here,” he said.

Another benefit of the past two years has been the regional relocation of many city-dwellers, pushing the city’s market to healthy new heights.

“When COVID first really kicked in and the territory opened up its borders, we saw a massive influx of population predominantly actually from Melbourne jumping out of there, albeit on a temporary basis,” he said.

But as the pandemic has dragged on, many of those interim residents have stuck around and are now considering making the move permanent, putting down roots with property purchases. 

“A lot of those people are looking at, can they remain in a place like Darwin or one of the regional centres and continue to work to an office in Melbourne or in Sydney or in Perth? And the answer generally is yes,” Mr Kilian said.