Buying in Darwin From Interstate: What Belinda Tennant Wishes You Knew First

it's really important to have the local knowledge because you know you can be in a great suburb in darwin there's a good street but there's also going to be bad streets so you really need to know the area i guess what we've seen with some of the interstate buyers agents is that they're not necessarily across the streets to buy in the our motto is buy without regrets and so

If you can buy a property that will serve you for 10 years as opposed to three years, that will serve you well. Buying a great property today, that's not just what it's about.

It's also getting something that could be ripe for improvement when the time is right for that investor or for the next buyer. You think about, right, lifestyle, what's important to you? How do you get to work? What do you need for your family? What amenities like parks and shops?

Then you look at the budget.

Welcome to Street Secrets. I'm Chris Bates and my mortgage broker is 2013.

And in this podcast, we're going to be interviewing Australia's leading buyer's agents, ones with decades of experience, have the local insider knowledge on the street, and can really help you with your buying process, no matter whether you're a first home buyer, upgrade or investor.

In this podcast, you'll get access to Australia's leading buyer's agents' minds every week on a Thursday. What's the word on the street?

Welcome to Three Secrets. I'm Chris Bates in the studio today and going to a part of the country that I actually haven't visited. I feel guilty saying that. It's like I know how beautiful it would be there.

It's about trying to go at the right time of the year and we're going to head up to probably the hottest

point of australia not so much also in temperature but also probably in the market right right now in 2026 so we're heading up to darwin got belinda tannin in the studio she runs a business called thrive property nt um as we just chatted about before coming on air there's not many buyers agents up there that have been working um more than a year or two up there and so super lucky to have belinda in the studio today thanks for joining us

Thanks so much, Chris. And it's the perfect time to be in Darwin, the dry season. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

That's... One of my really good mates that used to live in London a long, long time ago lives up there. And, you know, he keeps telling me, you know, the middle of the year is just sensational up there. And...

I think I've just got to get the kids up there and get a caravan and check out the whole of NT as well.

But before we go deeper on sort of the local market, I mean, just give us a bit of a history on yourself and how you sort of, did you grow up in Darwin? Did you move there? How long have you been a BA for? How long have you been working around property? Yeah.

Yes, so I actually grew up in Sydney and worked as a property valuer in Sydney. I moved overseas to the UK and ended up in property management. I was director of a Winkworth property management branch for, it must have been about six years.

Then moved back to Australia with a husband and a child. I had my daughter in Sydney and Then we moved to the Northern Rivers and then ended up buying a caravan, traveling around Australia. Arrived in Darwin in 2010.

And yeah, and so here we are now. So I started working in valuation again when I was in Darwin, but with the young children. I found that I was, you know, doing reports and things after they went to bed or

before they woke up in the mornings and it just wasn't working given the age of the children. So I ended up working with a developer, Sunbuild. They were leasing properties to Impex when the gas project was being built.

So I came in and managed that portfolio for them.

I was very fortunate when I told them that I wanted to start Thrive Property that they contracted that portfolio to me so that's how Thrive started so as a property management company in about 2017 and we've grown to a small team and then introduced the buyer's agent service when we saw a need in the Darwin market which was yeah probably yeah 18 months yeah

Yeah. So it's, I mean, there's lots I can go on there. I mean, is that, is that a, is it a common story? You know, you've been there since 2010, right? Last 15 years.

Have you said of the people that weren't, you know, not from Darwin, you know, but they do visit it and then they fall in love with the sort of lifestyle up there. And, you know, it's sort of like the caravan sort of expats arrive.

And is that what you see in terms of a lot of the people now that you know?

Yeah. And Darwin's so transient, so there's always people coming and going. Yes, a lot do end up staying fully in love with them.

How's the value? I mean, that's a pretty decent background coming into a buyer's agency. I mean, we've had lots of people on the show, a lot of different, so there's not right or wrong, but how did that sort of help you today?

I mean, obviously it would have helped you with your property management business, but when you think about when you're actually helping to buy property for clients now, how does it help you?

Yeah, I feel it's a significant advantage to have that background. Although I'm no longer a practicing valuer, I do use those skills to find the right properties for my clients.

So I will do an appraisal for each property that I look at to determine what I think the value of it is so that we can then use that when negotiating on properties. And I'll also do a rental appraisal. So we know the yields. We're not relying on

the agents providing that information to us.

Yeah, I mean, I don't want to go too much deeper on you, but there's so much good stuff there as well.

I mean, there's sort of the SunBuild time, you know, understanding the sort of, you know, I guess all the projects and the, you know, the mining impact on the sort of the town. How does that sort of, and how does that translate in 2026?

Like how big of it is it, you know, understanding, you know, what's happening in that world and, you know, the housing needs?

Yeah, the NT is very reliant on major projects, so it does have a significant effect on what's happening.

So, for example, in 2013, the portfolio I was managing for Sun Build, it was in a newly built complex, built in 2013.

most of those were owned by interstate investors rental returns were great and that followed through until i guess the impacts project was completed so the construction phase and then the market um completely slowed so rent returns fell um property values fell but now we've seen that the values climb climb up like one

What do you reckon is driving that in the recent times? Is there a lot of major projects happening? Is there a lot of population growth? Is there a lot of just interstate investors? What's driving it?

Definitely the interstate investors. There has been, I guess in the last financial year, a 1.7% increase in the population, which is great for Darwin because it's something that they've always battled with, attracting people to Darwin.

On a number wise, how many, what's the population now? Like what is that increase? Is it?

So in Darwin, it's probably around 160,000. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So I guess it's more.

So a couple of thousand people moved there last year sort of thing. Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And if you're saying like, you know, two, I would say two people per dwelling or maybe even 2.5. So maybe there's a need for maybe, and some are buying and some are sort of renting, right?

So there's been a little bit extra demand for sort of rentals, I guess, because the population has gone up a bit.

The rent market is so strong at the moment. I was just looking this morning, the greater Darwin region had approximately 200 properties available for rent. So we are seeing, you know, 40, 50 people registering for open houses. So very strong demand.

What do you think is causing that?

I mean, it sounds like there's a little bit of population growth, but is there anything else that's really, do you think it's just a lack of investment for so long that it's just been a very tightening in rental pool of properties and it's just all of a sudden that there's too many renters, I guess?

Yeah, and perhaps people are learning more about the Darwin lifestyle. Perhaps they're wanting to experience it for themselves. Cost of living in other cities is really high.

Yeah. Is there some major projects building in terms of, you know, in the mining area? Is there some major things that, you know, are really big events in Northern Territory?

Yeah, we're probably looking at the Beetaloo Basin project and also some mining.

Yeah. And are they expecting a lot more people to come to like structure it and then, because that's sometimes the challenge, right? There's a lot in construction phase and then once it's up and running, the workforce needs are, you know, potentially quite different.

You know, is it, you know, when you think about the local community, are they sort of excited because there's some big infrastructure builds happening? Is that...

Yeah, I think people are very optimistic. I've found probably in the last 18 months the optimism in Darwin has improved.

Darwin's always been, or the NT, a place of opportunity. Also, I guess our proximity to Asia, which the government is seeing with making Darwin such an important defence area place or city as well.

So yeah, be the place for opportunity.

Yeah, right. So some defence spending potentially and then there's some mining that's happening and yeah, that proximity in Asia is always an interesting one, right? Because when people are leaving the East Coast, they're flying for like five, six hours and they're like, oh, we haven't even left Australia yet.

And you know, you're just sort of in Darwin, it's three hours to Bali or whatever it might be. If that, it's

And I think that's a, it's a, it's a big draw card, right? I mean, what about the local economy? You know, if you're not working in mining or you're not working, say infrastructure sort of stuff, is, how's the sort of, you know, is the city sort of doing quite well there?

Is there job opportunities? Is unemployment quite low or is it a bit mixed?

uh so many jobs um the nt government is probably the largest employer of people in the territory um plenty of work available not enough people to fill positions

Okay. So locally, it's quite, you know, consumer confidence is quite high in this job. So, you know, you mentioned prior to coming on, it was something we've, you know, anyone listening to this would know that, you know, we've been talking about this for a long time and the budget's changed things a lot.

It'd be interesting to see what changes in Darwin because yields are just so high up there, right? Like it's the one sort of place in the country where you can get, you know, six plus yields. But, you know, how have the sort of,

You know, you said the interstate investors, a lot of them would find it hard to buy when they've got boots on the ground. How's the sort of the borderless buyers agent?

And, you know, when you sort of been there for 15 years, sort of, you know, how you been feeling watching what they're buying and where they're buying?

yeah i feel it's really important to have the local knowledge because you know you can be in a in a great suburb in darwin but then um and you know there's a good street but there's also going to be bad streets so you really need to know um know the area um so i guess what we've seen with some of the interstate buyers agents is that they're not necessarily across

the streets to buy in or the locations to buy in.

Is there sort of some classic sort of mistakes that they're often making or is it besides the wrong parts of the areas? Is there certain pockets that, you know, because I think you've seen it from a real rental point of view, right? And also a lot of the people

that leave your tenancies probably off go on and buy. They probably stay related to the business in some sense sometimes.

And so you probably also know what the buyers want because they, you know, sometimes your tenants leaving or they're selling a property because they want to buy a home or whatever it might be.

But what are you sort of seeing when you think about the local demand, like the local buyer, you know, because that drives prices the most, right? It's the person who wants to own the property to live in rather than the interstate investor that's based on rental returns. So like,

Where are the sort of the investor mindset going wrong with what the local buyer sort of really wants?

Well, I guess the local buyer is wanting more of a lifestyle property and in the right location where the interstate investors, I'll give you an example of a property that was purchased for an interstate investor by an out of state buyer's agent.

It was a corner house, low fence. across the road from a park, public toilets and local shops. The tenants had been broken into numerous times.

They've often found people passed out in their front yard and the security of the property wasn't secure. The windows weren't locked.

Yeah, not necessarily a property that I would be looking at for my clients.

Yeah, it's interesting, right? So you've kind of highlighted just some of the positioning of a property within a suburb and the security can be, it might not be a big issue in some other parts of other suburbs and other cities.

It's obviously a nationwide issue, but there might be certain pockets where it matters a lot. And it might be that's what you're highlighting here. And, you know, even if they put a big fence up, they might not want to do that, right?

And they might go, I just don't want to be in this pocket. And you just really, you know, if you try to sell it one day, you basically ruled out the home buyer or anyone, you know, potentially they might not be looking in that pocket.

And so, yeah, I think you might go, great, I can rent it because there's only 200 houses for rent in Darwin. But even that might not be, might be constantly changing tenants, right? Because they're not. You know, they feel safe and secure.

You know, I guess you think about from an aspirational point of view or the people, I guess, within Darwin, whether they've got businesses or in, you know, higher paying roles in mining or whatever it might be. Where are they sort of gravitating to?

Like, where is sort of the more the premium sort of pockets of Darwin and what really drives those pockets to be seen as more valuable? Yeah.

Yeah, so Fenney Bay, Larrakia, close to the city, close to the water, close to the sailing club, the museum, the ski club, the trailer boat club, beautiful lifestyle.

Then I would say Brinkin is a traditional suburb over towards Kajarina.

coastal area, so close to the beach, good size blocks, close to the hospital, the university, so that's a lovely area. And with medical staff coming in and things, I guess we're seeing

interest in Muirhead and Lyons, which are newer suburbs. Well, 2000, perhaps 2008 and 2009 for Lyons and then it's a little younger. But yeah, so more modern homes, but very close to the hospital.

So we do see strong demand for medical staff for those properties. Young doctors and nurses coming in are drawn to Nightcliff, Rapid Creek, particularly along Casuarina Drive. because of the lifestyle. You've got the nightly foreshore.

So, you know, they run the park run on Saturday mornings, cafes, pop-ups. Yeah, so it's a lovely place to be.

Yeah, so there's some sort of pockets, you know, beach pockets, I guess, and then the inner city sort of pocket as well, which is sort of, you know, much probably less likely that people are selling in those areas. They're sort of buying and sort of they're...

I mean, they might be a bit transient, so they're selling because they're maybe moving and stuff, but they're not selling because of lifestyle reasons, let's say. Is there schooling issues anyway, you know, where there's just a lack of maybe... you know, a gap in public schooling or real gravitation towards certain private schooling?

Like is there pockets where, you know, if people have got sort of teenage kids that they really want to be within?

Yeah, so a lot of people want to be in the zone for Darwin Middle School, which is, yeah, a government school.

But I guess the two main private schools, I believe, would be Essington, which is over Nightcliff Way, and then Halebury-Randall, which is in Berrima.

Okay. And is it seen as, you know, if someone was, you know, financially able to afford it, that they really are gravitating to those private schools? Or is it the middle school, you know, quite confident that, you know, that people, yeah.

Both, but the middle school performs very well as well.

Yeah. Okay. So yeah. So there's a, you know, I think, cause it does matter. I think it's, you know, as the population go, more people stay, schooling's, you know, very high on people's sort of list.

Is there sort of, um, when people think about Darwin, obviously climate's a bit unique, um, you know, compared to East Coast or, you know, West Coast, um, summers and winters are a bit different, like we said at the start.

How does that sort of play out in terms of internal sort of what people want from a property point of view? Do they want different aspects?

How do they think about what's a dream sort of the block and the view and what are some of the attributes that people just really gravitate to and really want?

yeah definitely a swimming pool that's yeah a lot of people want that um i love tropical homes so that'll be your elevated homes with the louver windows and things but the people coming from interstate so if they're relocating and it's a rental property

They may not know how to manage the humidity within those properties, as well as tropical gardens that generally come along with the elevated homes. So they find it difficult to manage those tropical gardens, difficult to manage the humidity in the houses and homes.

Yeah, so I feel locals have a great understanding for that, but for an investment, you'd probably be looking for something that's more standard, that southerners might be able to cope with.

So maybe a ground level home, obviously a split system air conditioners, low maintenance gardens. Yeah.

yeah that's interesting where's these sort of um pockets that are a bit more tropical like is it is it those same pockets it's just you know there's a few streets that are a bit higher is or is it is it is it a whole other pocket ah it's all um through scattered yeah all scattered um northern suburbs uh fanny bays there's some and they yeah homes yeah

Yeah, so there's parts of suburbs that maybe don't get the sort of attention they deserve. You can feel people have been there for a while and they're like, no, no, I want to be up there. I want the greenery.

But maybe there's issues with managing the heat in them without just putting the air con on, I guess. Okay, cool.

So then the, in terms of the, just the local sort of, is there any issues that you find, like a lot of cities have got issues with flooding or they've got issues with stormwater or they've got issues, you know, with, there's a lot of noise or is there pockets of sort of,

Darwin where, you know, I guess people don't know what they don't know. Then all of a sudden, or times of years, it's really challenging to live in that pocket that it might not be as much breezes.

How do you think about the sort of city from, you know, different challenges, not saying pointing out different areas or pockets, but just how it can change?

Yeah, so some areas might have, you'll hear people complaining about too many midges in those areas so they can't enjoy being out on their balcony or in the outdoor entertaining area.

There are some areas that would be in storm surge zones, but I haven't, in the time that I've been here, I wouldn't say that that's been a significant issue. Yeah, I mean, you will get flooding across roads, but...

at time yeah but it's part and parcel of the wet season um i like loans um if you're closer to the coast then you might experience more of you know more trees down and that yeah yeah but nothing nothing major there what about sort of the um obviously you know development's always happening and um when the population's increasing is there certain pockets where you know a lot more is happening a new housing estate or

You know, there was a bit of an apartment boom back in the day. It was a cool thing to buy an off-the-plan apartment in Darwin. And, you know, there's obviously some challenges for those investors. Yeah. But, you know, how's the sort of city going to grow? Is it just, it's quite landlocked, right?

Because you are on a bit of a sort of a peninsula sort of thing going on. You know, is it sort of the household land package in the fringes? Is there any other sort of pockets where they're cutting blocks up? Like, what are you seeing?

Yes, Zoccoli, which is in Palmerston. In recent years, there's been significant growth in that area. Yep, definitely Zoccoli. Northcrest, which is near Berrima, that subdivision has been happening for a few years and it's

ending and then there's a few other pockets i think lee point which is towards lines and muirhead which i mentioned earlier being close to the hospital that been a little bit controversial because of the land that it's on but yeah that's has been um as a subdivision so um where there's little bits and pieces everywhere um

after so units in the CBD construction probably stopped around 2015 and then you know we've really only started to see things happen starting again slowly.

Yeah I mean you've got obviously like you said, really tight rental supply, which is kind of like the vacancy rates, kind of like the thing to be really concerned about, really, like, you know, but you have got really high yields.

Like, if you think about Darwin over the next few years, is there anything that... How do you feel about sort of the growth in prices? I mean, is it getting to... Because it has started to go up.

Are locals starting to feel like it's getting unaffordable in terms of from an owner-occupier point of view? And do you think that a lot of the growth has to be driven by investors competing and pushing prices up?

How do you see the market sort of playing out over the next few years?

Well, the interstate investors definitely drove the market up. I know that a lot of owner occupiers wanting to buy were getting a little bit frustrated because they were starting to miss out on properties.

But then I think the owner occupiers have recovered from that. They decided they weren't going to be missing out, so they paid a little bit more. I feel that the owner occupier market is going quite well now. And particularly in those higher price brackets.

So I guess I'm talking around, you know, 900,000, a million kind of bracket. We're seeing owner occupiers upsizing. Yeah.

Yeah. Okay. Yeah. They now got a bit of equity. They know they're going to stay. They see the value in the next sort of forever home sort of move. And if they don't do it now, they're more worried that they won't. And, you know, they could miss the boat a little bit.

So there's a bit of that. I mean, the interest rate buys, it's because of the yields are being so high in the vacancy rates. Do you see that continuing, even though the budget's happened? You know, it's one of those places where the negative cash flow, you know, isn't too bad.

How do you feel about that?

yeah there is still interest from interstate investors however it has slowed but then you know if if we're looking towards positively gearing well darwin is affordable to buy in the rental yield fantastic um so you've got more of that opportunity for the positive for positive hearing when you might have in other capital cities

From the other side, like the reef side, is there anything that sort of makes you feel a little bit nervous that, you know, there's something coming in a few years time as in end of a mining contract or anything, is there anything that is sort of, you know, causing the, you know, a bit of a flatter period or do you feel like that the city's kind of going through its next sort of, you know, evolution, I guess, and there's nothing that's sort of more temporary?

no everyone's still very positive how darwin's performing obviously the property market's cyclical so you know yeah you expect the ups and downs as normal but yeah we're still yeah yeah yeah absolutely

Yeah, there's obviously tourism is quite a big part of it, right, as well. And as you found that over the last five years, obviously holiday at home, people want to, you know, not just go to Europe, they wanted to potentially go to Darwin in winter.

Has that become like a growing big part of the, you know, it's almost it's on the map now and the sort of cat's out of the bag?

Yeah, they definitely want to be in Darwin in the dry season. So traditionally, we've seen a lot of grey nomads come up for the dry season. So they get the best of both worlds, don't they? Time in, missing out on the winters down south.

And then since COVID, we also saw an increase in people wanting to travel to Darwin. I would say this year, tourism has probably slowed a little and Would be due to the cost of living fuel.

Cost of living, yeah.

Yeah.

Is there any pockets outside, like, you know, 20, 30, 50 an hour, you know, two hours outside of Darwin where, you know, people feel like they're still, they want to live in that pocket just because of some type of real tangible lifestyle benefit, but then they come to Darwin, they need and...

They live there because of views or types of, or is it really people, if they're going to live there, they're going to want to live in those pockets we spoke about before?

Pretty much. Yeah.

Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So there's no sort of commutable sort of towns or anything that people really gravitate. Yeah.

And no, no. So probably the next main town is Catherine, which is three hours down the road, down the Stuart High. Yeah. So yeah. Yeah.

Gotcha.

Yeah.

Yes, that's good. And then from a business point of view and the wealth within this, you know, obviously we spoke about doctors, we spoke about obviously people in the mining area and things like that. Is there any sort of, you know, major sort of,

other things that sort of, you know, from a business sort of financial point of view or that, you know, construction sounds like it's coming back a little bit for Resi. So like, is there any other major employers? You've obviously got a uni up there as well. Is there any other?

Mainly defence and government. They're the

Defense and government. Yeah. Gotcha.

Yeah.

Okay. Very good. Now you mentioned, um, you came in by as age about 18 months ago. I think you said that, um, you got a friend who's also one up there. Um, there's a lot of holiday letting.

Yeah. Lena. So I call her the queen of Airbnb. Um, in Darwin. Yeah.

Yeah.

specializes in the luxury market, but she'll also do buyer's agency work specifically for people looking to buy a property for short-term accommodation or Airbnb market.

Yeah, that they might, yeah, okay, cool. And then, but from your understanding, like, you know, when you started 18 months ago, was there, besides the Queen of Airbnb and you, was there anyone else sort of? No.

And there wasn't really a need either. I believe, so, you know, 2013 to probably about 2016, 17, there was a buyer's agent in Darwin and then they suited the market when there wasn't a need. Yeah.

Yeah. So yeah, that explains it. And then, but you know, in the last probably 12, 18 months, have you sort of seen, you know, people fly in, fly out BAs a little bit? Is that becoming more prevalent? Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. I believe they drove the market a lot.

Okay. Yeah. So you see that they're just the pure velocity. Cause I mean, how many listings is there roughly usually? I mean, you mentioned 200 rental properties. Is there, what's the size of the, I guess the housing market in Darwin generally listing?

So if I look back on when things were, you know, the market was slow, so that would have been what, 2018, 2019, there were probably, you know, 850 properties available for rent at any time.

Well, I'm just having a quick look on here. I mean, it's usually around 1500 properties on the market, really. And then that's dropped to about five, 600 ish. And so obviously they snapped up everything they could, you know, and people have still listed, but they've just been able to go off the market.

So it's created this sort of, well, if I don't buy now, other stuff won't come on because it's been sort of, now a good little 12, 18 months or something of lower listings. And it kind of makes people feel a little bit anxious.

I mean, so you're only talking really 500 properties to a thousand that it's sort of, you know, and all of a sudden for quite a few buyers agencies,

with quite a big number of clients that can very quickly snap up a lot of those is that's what you, you got more of expectations that they're the ones who have been taken off the market. So you've seen this growing rental pool. Yeah.

And lots of off market. They've been buying up a lot of off market properties as well. But now since the budget announcement, I guess that off market sales has probably reduced and the agents are needing to list them more.

How do they deal with you? Do you think a bit different? Do they sort of communicate some of their concerns? I mean, they're obviously acting for the vendor, so it's their job to get things sold, right? Let's be real. That's what their job is to do.

But how do they feel sometimes off and treating you? They've known you for 15 years. You're a colleague with a property management business, so I'm sure you know them all very well.

yeah i still had to keep in touch and chase them up for their off markets and things whereas now i'm finding that they're starting to come to me or without me asking so i feel that they're having to work a little bit harder for their sales yeah and that's yeah okay since the budget um announcement

Do you think they treat you a bit differently though? Just keeps being there for a long time. You're a local, you sort of, you know, they know Belinda won't look at this stuff, but you know, I know she'll have probably had buyers who are interested in this stuff.

You know, they don't try to sell you the, you know, they're wasting their time, right? Like they know that you're not going to explore those type of properties, but. And they sort of give you preference on the better properties.

Like there's a bit of a, you know, because they know they're going to be better long-term relationships. Like there's always a bit of that stuff that happens with agencies. It's just they're not only building relationships.

They want to get the result for the vendor, but they also are conscious that, you know, they're going to be around for a long time. They don't want to be working with someone just for, you know, two minutes.

That's right. And because they know I have the local knowledge, they're not going to present the rubbish to me. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. It's been an awesome chat. You know, it is an interesting part of Australia and the world. And, you know, obviously, you know, we both sort of spoke around the benefits of investing up there.

So it's not just doing the wrong thing and just buying somewhere that's, you know, just because it's high yield and it might still be an attractive place. But Even within there, there's at some point markets do slow and, you know, you start to realise, did you buy in the better pocket?

Can you, you know, do you get capital growth compared? And so it's, if you are going there, you want to get the best bang for your buck.

And I think, you know, knowing, you know, what the locals want, the areas to be, you know, potentially spending a bit more and getting a lot more. And so I think you've been super safe hands chatting to Belinda and the team there and I appreciate you coming on today.

Well, thanks so much, Chris. Absolute pleasure. Thank you.

Thanks so much for listening today. We hope you got lots of value out of it. If you'd like to speak to our guest today, there's links in the show notes on how you can get in contact.

And if you're buying your first home, upgrading, renovating, or need any finance-related queries, obviously we'd love to help. There's links in the show notes to us as a mortgage broker, and we look forward to next week's episode.