Belinda: [00:00:00] it's really important to have the local knowledge, because, you know, you can be great suburb in Darwin, there's a good street, but there's also gonna 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
[00:01:00]
Chris: Welcome to Street 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 gonna head up to the 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 Tennant 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 buyer's agents up there that have been working, um, more than a year or [00:02:00] two up there, and so super lucky to have Belinda in the studio today.
Thanks for joining us.
Belinda: Thanks so much, Chris. And, um, it's the perfect time to be in Darwin, the dry season. I wouldn't wanna be anywhere else
Chris: That's, I, one of my really good mates that used to live in London a long, long time ago lives up there and, um, you know, he keeps telling me, you know, the middle of the year is just sensational up there and, um, I think I've just gotta get the kids up there and get a caravan and, and check out the whole of NT as well.
But, um, before we, um, go, uh, you know, deeper on sort of the, the local market, I mean, can you just give us a bit of a history on yourself, um, you know, and how you sort of... Did you grow up in Darwin? Did you move there? You know, how long you been a BA for? How long you been working around property? Um, yeah
Belinda: Yeah, 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, was director of a Winkworth, uh, property management [00:03:00] branch, uh, for it must've been about six years. Um, then moved back to Australia with a husband and a child
Belinda: had, uh, 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, uh, Darwin, but with 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, um, Sunbuild. Um, they had, um... They were leasing properties to Inpex, uh, when the gas project was being built. so I came in and managed that portfolio for [00:04:00] them. I was very fortunate when I told them that I wanted to start Thrive Property, uh, that they contracted that portfolio to me.
So that's how Thrive started, so as a property management company, um, in about 2017. Um, 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.
Chris: Yeah. So it's, um, I mean, there's lots I can go on there. Uh, 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 seen of, of 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, um, is that what you see in terms of a lot of the, the people now that you know?
Belinda: Yeah. And Darwin's so transient, so there's always people coming and going. yes, a lot do end up staying, fall in love with the-
Chris: how's [00:05:00] the value? I mean, that's, um,
Belinda: Yes
Chris: 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 does that sort of help you today? I mean, obviously it would've helped you with, you know, your, your property management business, but, you know, when you're, when you think about when you're actually helping to buy property for clients now, how does it help you?
Belinda: 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, um, uh, a- 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, um, the yields.
Uh, we're not relying on, the agents providing that information to us
Chris: Yeah, I mean, I'm-- don't wanna go too much deeper into it, but there's so much good stuff there as well. I mean, the, the in- the sort of, um, the [00:06:00] 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, 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?
Belinda: Yeah, um, the NT is very reliant on major projects, so it does have a significant, um, effect on, um, what's happening. Um, so for example, um, in 2013, um, uh, the portfolio I was managing, for Sun Village, it was, in a newly built complex, built in, built in 2013. and most of those were owned by interstate investors.
rental returns were great, and that followed through until, I guess, the Inpex project, was completed, so the construction phase, and then the market, um, completely slowed. [00:07:00] So, rent returns fell, um, property values fell, but, but now we've seen the, the values climb, climb up again. Um, yeah
Chris: What do you reckon's driving that in the recent times? What's like, is there, is there a lot of major projects happening? Is there a lot of population growth? Is there a lot of just interstate investors? What, what's driving it?
Belinda: Uh, definitely the interstate investors. there has been, I guess in the last financial year, um, a 1.7% increase in the population, which is great for Darwin because it's something that they've always battled with, uh, yeah, attracting people to Darwin. and
Chris: on a number-wise, how many, what's the population now? Like, what, what, what is that increase? Is it,
Belinda: So in Darwin, it's probably around 160,000
Chris: Yeah. Okay
Belinda: Yeah, so I guess it's more like
Chris: So a couple of thousand people moved there last year sort of thing, yeah? Yeah. Yeah. And if it, and you're saying like, you know, [00:08:00] two, a thou- let's 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,
Belinda: Mm-hmm.
Chris: you know, there's been a little bit extra demand for sort of rentals, I guess, 'cause the population's gone up a bit.
Belinda: The rent market is so strong at the moment. I was just looking this morning, the greater Darwin region had a, approximately 200 properties available for rent. So we are seeing, you know, 40, 50 people registering for open houses. so very strong demand.
Chris: What do you think is causing that? Is it, I mean, it, it sounds like there's a little bit of population growth, but is it, is it, 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, you know, there's too many b- renters, I guess?
Belinda: Yeah, and perhaps, people are learning more about the Darwin lifestyle. Perhaps they're wanting to experience it from the- for themselves. Cost of [00:09:00] living in
Chris: Okay
Belinda: other cities is really high.
Chris: Yeah. Is there some major projects building in terms of, you know, in the mining area? What, is there some major things that, you know, are really big events in Northern Territory?
Belinda: Yeah, we're probably looking at, um, the Beetaloo Basin, project and also some mining.
Chris: Yeah. And are they, are they, um, expecting a lot more people to come to, like, construct it and then... 'Cause 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. Um, you know, is, 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, is that-
Belinda: Yeah, I think, um, people are very optimistic. I've found probably in the last 18 months the optimism in Darwin, uh, has, uh, has, has improved. Um, Darwin's always been, or the NT, a place of [00:10:00] opportunity. Um, also I guess our proximity to Asia, the-- which the government is seeing with, uh, making Darwin such a, a- an important defense, uh, place or city as well.
So, yeah, we're the place for opportunity
Chris: Yeah, right. So some defense spending potentially, and then there's some mining that's happening and, um, yeah, that proximity in Asia is, is always an interesting one, right? 'Cause when people are leaving the East Coast, they're flying for like five, six hours and they're like, "Oh, we haven't left Australia yet."
And, um, you know, you're, you're just sort of in Darwin, you're three hours to Bali or whatever it might be. It's, it's, it's-- if, if, if that, um, it's, uh, you know, 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?
Belinda: Uh, so many jobs. [00:11:00] 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
Chris: Mm-hmm. Okay. So, so locally it's, it's quite, you know, consumer confidence is quite high in this job. So, you know, you mentioned, um, prior to coming on, um, 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, um, and the budget's changed things a lot.
Um, the biggest thing is that we have changes in Darwin because yields are just so high up there, right? Like it's, it's the one sort of place in the country where you can get, you know, six plus yields. Um, but, uh, you know, how, 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've sort of been there for 15 years, sort of, you know, how you've been feeling watching what they're buying and where they're buying?
Belinda: Yeah. I feel it's really important to have the local [00:12:00] knowledge, because, you know, you can be in a great suburb in Darwin, but then, um... And, you know, there's a good street, but there's also gonna 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, um, the streets to buy in or the locations to buy in.
Chris: Is there sort of some classic sort of mistakes that they're often making? Or is it, besides the pa- wrong parts of the areas, is there, there's certain pockets that, you know, what you-- 'Cause I think you've seen it from a real rental point of view, right? And also a lot of the people that leave your, um, 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 'cause they wanna buy a home or whatever it might be. But what, what are you sort of seeing when you think about the local demand, like [00:13:00] the local buyer, um, you know, 'cause that drives prices the most, right?
It, it's the, 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?
Belinda: well, I guess the local buyer, um
Is wanting more of a lifestyle property and in the right location, um, where the interstate investors... I'll give you an example of a property that that was purchased for an interstate investor by an out-of-state, um, buyer's agent. it was a corner house, low fence, across the road from a park, public toilets, and local shops.
Um, 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, was... Well, it [00:14:00] wasn't secure. The windows weren't locked, and, um, yeah, not, not necessarily a property that I would be looking at for my, my clients.
Chris: Yeah, it's interesting, right? So you've kinda highlighted just some of the, the positioning of a property within a suburb and the, you know, security, you know, can be, you know, might not be a big issue in some other parts of other suburbs and other cities. You know, it's obviously a nationwide issue, but there might be certain pockets where it matters a lot.
Um, and it might be that's what you're highlighting here. And, um, you know, a homeowner, even if they put a big fence up, they might not wanna do that, right? And they might go, "I just don't wanna be in this pocket." And you just really, you know, they-- if you try to sell it one day, you basically ruled out the home buyer or anyone, you know, potentially might've been looking in that pocket.
And so, um, yeah, I think you might have gone, "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 in, you [00:15:00] know, they don't feel safe and secure. Um, you know, with pe- I guess, uh, you think about the, from an aspirational point of view or the, you know, 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, and what really drives those pockets to be seen as more valuable?
Belinda: Yeah. So, uh, Fanny Bay, Larrakia, close to the city, close to the water, um, close to the sailing club, the museum, the ski club, the trailer boat club, beautiful lifestyle. then I would say Brinkin is a traditional, uh, suburb, over towards, uh, Casuarina, coastal area, so close to the beach, uh, good size blocks, um, close to the hospital, the university.
so that's a lovely area. And [00:16:00] with, uh, medical staff coming in and things, I guess we're seeing interest in Muirhead and Lyons, which are newer suburbs. Oh, well, twenty, uh, you know, two thousand and perhaps, perhaps two thousand and eight, two thousand and nine for, for Lyons and then, Muirhead'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. Um, young doctors and nurses coming in are drawn to Nightcliff, Rapid Cre- Creek, p- particularly along Casuarina Drive, because of the lifestyle. You've got, um, the Nightcliff Foreshore, so you know, they run the park run on Saturday mornings, uh, cafes, pop-ups.
yeah, so it's a, a lovely place to be
Chris: Yeah. So there's some sort of pockets, you know, beach pockets I guess, and then the inner city sort of, sort of pocket as well, which is sort of, you know, much probably less likely that people are [00:17:00] 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 may be moving and stuff, but they, they're not selling because of lifestyle reasons, let's say.
where's school? Is there schooling issues anywhere, um, you know, where there's just a lack of maybe, you know, a gap in public schooling or a real gravitation towards certain private schooling? Like is there pockets where, you know, if people have got sort of teenage kids that they really wanna be within?
Belinda: Yeah, so a lot of people want to be in the zone for Darwin Middle School, uh, which is, um, yeah, a government school. but I, I guess the two main private schools, I believe would be Essington, uh, which is over Nightcliff Way, and then Halebury Rendall, uh, which is in Berrimah.
Chris: Okay.
Belinda: yeah
Chris: And is it, is it seen as, um, you know, someone was, you know, financially able to afford it, that they really are gravitating to those private [00:18:00] schools? Or is it, is it the, the middle school, you know, quite confident that, you know, that people are... Yeah
Belinda: Both, but the middle school performs very well as well.
Chris: Yeah, okay. So yeah, so there's a, you know, I, 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. Um, how does that sort of play out in terms of like internal sort of how do- what, what do people want from a property point of view? Like, do they want a different aspects? Do they, how do they think about, you know, what's a dream sort of, you know, the block and the view and like what are some of the, the attributes that people just really gravitate to and really want?
Belinda: Yeah. definitely a swimming pool. That's-- Yeah, a lot of people want that. Um, I love [00:19:00] tropical homes, so that'll be your elevated homes with the louvre 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
Chris: Ah, okay
Belinda: 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, um, 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, that southerners, um, uh, might be able to cope with.
So your, um, maybe a ground level home, um, obviously your split system air conditioners, low maintenance gardens. yeah,
Chris: Yeah, that's interesting. Where's the sort of, um, pockets that are a bit more tropical? Like, is it, is it those same [00:20:00] pockets? It's
Belinda: Yeah.
Chris: you know, there's a few streets that are a bit higher, is, or is it, is it, is it a whole other pocket?
Belinda: Uh, it's all, um, through, yeah, all scattered, um, northern suburbs, uh, Fanny Bay. There's some ama-
Chris: Okay.
Belinda: homes. Yeah
Chris: Yeah, so there's parts of suburbs that, um, maybe don't get the sort of attention they deserve, considering people have been there for a while and they're like, "No, no, I wanna be up there. I, I want the greenery." Um, but maybe there's issues with managing the heat in there and without just putting the air con on, I guess.
Um, okay, cool. So then the, um, in terms of the, just the, the local sort of... Is there any po- issues that you find, like a lot of cities have got issues with flooding or they've got issues with, um, stormwater or they've got issues, you know, with, there's a lot noise or is there, 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 [00:21:00] be as much breezes?
How do you think about the sort of city from, you know, different challenges? Not saying, p- pointing out different areas or pockets, but just how it can change
Belinda: Yeah, so some areas, um, might have, um, you'll hear people complaining about too many midges in those areas, so they can't enjoy, um, being out on their balcony or in their outdoor entertaining area, um, all the time. Um, uh, there are some areas that would be in storm surge zones, um
But I haven't, uh, i- 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, but it's part and parcel of the wet season. Um, I-- cyclones, um, if you're closer to the coast, then you might experience more of, you know, more trees down and that.
yeah, I would
Chris: Yeah, but [00:22:00] nothing, nothing major there. What about sort of the, um, obviously there's a hund- you know, development's always happening and, um, and the population's increasing. Is there certain pockets where, you know, a lot more is happening, you know, new housing estates or, you know, there was a bit of an apartment boom back in the day.
Um, it was a cool thing to buy an off-the-plan apartment in, in Darwin. Um, and, uh, you know, obviously some challenges w- for those investors. Um, but you know, how, how's the sort of city gonna grow? Is it just-- 'Cause it's quite landlocked, right? 'Cause you are on a bit of a sort of a peninsula sort of thing going on.
Um, you know, is it, is it sort of the house and land packages in the fringes? Is there any other sort of pockets where they're cutting blocks up? Like, is it-- What are you seeing?
Belinda: Yeah, so Zuccoli, uh, which is in Palmerston, um, the, i- in recent years there's been significant growth in, in that area. yep, definitely Zuccoli. Um, Northcrest, which is near Berrima, that [00:23:00] subdivision has been happening for a few years, um, and it's expanding. and then there's a few other pockets.
I think Leigh Point, which is towards Lyons 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, a, a s- a subdivision. So, um, yeah, 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, uh, starting again, um, slowly.
Chris: Yeah. Um, I mean, you've got, uh, obviously, um, like you said, really tight rental supply, which is kinda like the vacancy rate's kinda like the, 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 [00:24:00] there anything that...
How do you feel about sort of the growth in prices? I mean, is it, is the, is it getting to-- 'Cause 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? Or, and do you think that a lot of the growth has to be driven by investors competing and pushing prices up?
Um, like how, or is it... Yeah, how do you see the market sort of playing out over the next few years?
Belinda: Yeah. Well, the interstate investors definitely drove the market up. I know that a lot of, um, owner-occupiers wanting to buy were getting a little bit frustrated because they were starting to miss out on properties. and, um, but then I think they've kind of, 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, um, and particularly in those higher price brackets. um, so I, I guess I'm talking around, you know, 900,000, a [00:25:00] million kind of bracket. Um, we're seeing, owner-occupiers, upsizing.
Yeah.
Chris: Yeah, okay. Yeah, they now got a bit of equity. They, know they're gonna 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 little bit of that. Is there, is there, I mean, the, the interstate buyers, because of the yields are being so high and the vacancy rates, do, do you see that continuing even though the budget's happened?
Um, you know, it, it's one of those places where the negative cash flow c- you know, isn't too bad. you know, how do you feel about that?
Belinda: 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 gearing, [00:26:00] um, than you might have in other capital cities.
Yeah
Chris: From the other side, like the risk 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, 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?
Belinda: no, everyone's still very positive, how Darwin's performing. obviously the property market's cyclical, so, you know, you
Chris: Yeah.
Belinda: expect the ups and downs as normal. But, yeah, we're still,
Chris: Yeah
Belinda: yeah, positive about things here
Chris: Yeah, absolutely. Is there anything that, um, obviously tourism's a quite a big part of it, right, as well, and, as you found out that over the last five years, obviously holiday at home, the, um, you know, people wanted to, you know, not just go to Europe, they wanted to potentially go to Darwin in, in winter.
Um, has that become like a growing big part of the... You know, it, it's almost it's, it's on [00:27:00] the map now and the, the, the sort of cat's out of the bag?
Belinda: Yeah, they definitely want to be in Darwin in the, um, dry season. So traditionally we've seen a lot of gray nomads come up for the dry season, so they, uh, yeah, get the best of both worlds, don't they? Time in up here, missing out on the winters down south. Um, 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,
Chris: of living, yeah.
Belinda: yeah.
Chris: 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 wanna 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 gonna live there, they're gonna wanna live [00:28:00] in those, those pockets we spoke about before?
Belinda: Pretty much, yeah
Chris: Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So there's no sort of commutable sort of towns or anything that people really gravitate. Yeah.
Belinda: And no, no. So, probably the next main town is Katherine, which is three hours down the road, down the Stuart Highway. So yeah, don't... I mean, yeah
Chris: Yeah, gotcha. Yeah, so that's good 'cause that answers all the, um... And then from a big, you know, 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 obviously got a uni up there as well. Is there any other
Belinda: Mainly defense and government. They're the...
Chris: Defense and government. Yeah, gotcha.
Belinda: Yeah
Chris: Okay, very good. Now, you mentioned, um, you became a buyer's agent about 18 months ago. I think you said that, uh, um, you got a friend who's also one up there, [00:29:00] um, does a lot of holiday letting, yeah?
Belinda: Lena, so I call her the queen of Airbnb, um, in Darwin. Um, specializes in the luxury market, but she'll also do buyer's agency work specifically for people looking to buy a property, for the short term, for short-term accommodation or Airbnb market. Yeah
Chris: Yeah, that they might... Yeah, okay, cool. and then but, uh, from your understanding, like, you know, when you, when you started 18 months ago, was there, besides the queen of Airbnb and you, was there anyone else sort of- No
Belinda: And there wasn't really a need either. I believe, um, 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. and
Chris: Yeah, so yeah, that explains it. And then, but you know, g- in the last probably 12, 18 months, have you sort of seen, you know, people fly in, fly out BAs a little bit? The, [00:30:00] uh, is that becoming more co- prevalent?
Belinda: in-age. Yeah. Yep. th- I believe they drove the market a lot
Chris: Okay. Yeah, so you see the, the, the just the, the pure velocity. 'Cause I mean, how many listings is there roughly? Usually when you mentioned 200 rental properties, is there-- What's the size of the, I guess, the housing market in Darwin generally listing?
Belinda: Um, so if I look back on when things were, you know, the market was slow, so that would've been what? 2018, 2019. There were probably, you know, 800, 850 properties available for rent at any time.
Chris: Well, I'm just having a quick look on here. I mean, it's, it's, you're usually around 1,500 properties on the market really. Um, and then that's dropped to about 5, 600-ish. And so, um, 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, [00:31:00] 12, 18 months or something of lower listings and it kinda makes people feel a little bit anxious. Um, I mean, so y- y- you're only talking really 500 properties that, to 1,000 that it's sort of, you know, and all of a sudden for quite a few buyer's agencies with quite a big number of clients, it can very quickly snap up a lot of those.
Is, is that's what you, you got more of expectations that they're the ones who have been taken it off the market, so you're seeing this growing rental pool?
Belinda: And lots of off market. They've been buying up a lot of off market properties as well. but now since, the, the budget announcement, I guess that off market, sales has probably reduced and the agents are needing to list them more. yeah
Chris: How do they deal with you, do you think a bit different? You know, 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? Like they're, you know, let's be real, that's what their, that's what their job is to do. And so, but how do they feel sometimes off, you know, b- you know, and, and [00:32:00] treating you, yeah, they've known you for 15 years.
You're, you're a colleague, you know, with a property management business, so I'm sure you know them all very well
Belinda: Yeah, I still had to keep in touch and chase them up for, their off markets and things. Whereas now I'm finding they're, 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 since, since the budget, um, announcements.
Chris: Do you think they treat you a bit differently though, just because you've been 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 have buyers who are interested in this stuff. Um, you know, they, they don't try to sell you the, you know, there's- they're wasting their time, right?
Like, they know that you're not gonna 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, they know they're gonna be, you know, better long-term relationships. Like there's, there's always a bit of that stuff that happens with agencies.
It's just they're, they're, they're not only building relation- they wanna get the [00:33:00] result for the vendor, but they also are conscious that, you know, they're gonna be around for a long time. They don't want to be working with someone just for, you know, two minutes
Belinda: That's right. and because they know I, I have the local knowledge, they're not going to present the rubbish to me. Yep.
Chris: Yeah. Yep. Yep. well, Belinda, it's
Belinda: Yeah.
Chris: been an awesome chat. you know, it is, it is a interesting part of Australia and the world and, um, you know, obviously we're s- you know, we, we both sort of spoke around the, the, the benefits of investing up there. So it's not to say all these, you know, uh, investors are doing the wrong thing and they're just buying somewhere that's, you know, just 'cause it's high yield.
Um, 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 realize, did you buy in the better pocket? Can you, you know, do you get capital growth compared? And so it's, it's, if you are going there, you wanna get the best bang for your buck.
and I think, um, 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, um, and so I think, you're in super safe hands chatting to Belinda and the team there and I appreciate you coming on today
Belinda: Oh, thanks so much, [00:34:00] Chris. Absolute pleasure. Thank you
