CEO Tips Investors to Keep a Watch on the Darwin Market

The Real Estate Institute of Northern Territory (REINT)CEO Quentin Kilian who has been in the position for the past 12 years is moving to Victoria as the new CEO of Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV).

Mr Kilian has been in the real estate industry and calls it his home on and off. He may be moving south, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be keeping an eye on real estate.

The outgoing CEO said some words of wisdom for Australia's investors. He says, “don’t sleep on Darwin”.

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According to him, the state’s capital has missed the radar of investors because of its remote location but it has huge potential for garnering great yields and the promise of upcoming infrastructure developments will also push the rent higher. 

In the recent episode of The Smart Property Investment Show, Mr Kilian mentioned that they have noticed with Darwin or even Alice Springs that a lot of southern investors don’t invest here because it’s outside their comfort zone. 

For him, this is a stumbling block that has made Darwin something of a hidden gem for those who are willing to look at the numbers and invest from a distance.

Mr Kilian said “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, to have a serious look at the territory market.”

The recent experience of closed borders throughout Australia because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the use of technology to make remote and online real estate purchases has helped in countering the misconception that the Northern Territory market is less accessible due to the distance. 

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“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 mentioned.

Another noticeable benefit was the regional relocation of many city-dwellers, pushing Darwin’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.

What started as a temporary migration got dragged on and many residents stuck around longer. They are now also considering property purchases and putting down roots to make their move permanent.

“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.

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