Selling in a Tough Market!

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$$$$, Auction, Boom, Darwin, First Homebuyers, Home, House Price, Median, Northern Territory, NT News, Property, Raine & Horne, Real Estate

The 2016 Darwin Residential Sales Market is presenting as one of the toughest if not the toughest market in which I have been involved over the last 28 years in Real estate.

Now that is really saying something as I started my career selling homes in the ‘recession we had to have’.

The lowest sales No’s on record in Darwin since the REINT started keeping statistics in 1999.

But I am not here to belabor the point as to how tough it is for the poor old Real Estate Agent. Because unless you are a Real estate Agent who would actually care?

What I am here to talk about is something we are seeing that is making the job a little more exciting as we are at least getting some traffic through the door and having the opportunity to talk to someone rather than just putting out and collecting Home Open signs 8 times a Saturday.

In the NT the Auction system is a much maligned and avoided tool. We hear all the excuses from ‘Auctions are Expensive’ to ‘I’d never buy at an Auction’ however I can tell you that they are currently getting more people through the door.

Over the last 2 years I have tracked the No of attendees at our Home Opens and the average has diminished over this time from 3/open to where it currently sits at 0.7/open.

The last 5 auctions we have conducted had an average of 7 attendees per Home Open and there were 38 people in attendance at the Auction just 2 weeks ago. 4 out of 5 properties have sold so far in the Auction Program (coincidentally only 1 Under Hammer) and we are dealing with buyers on the other.

Now that is not to say that we recommend Auctioning everything however it certainly makes a strong statement in a market where the average Days on Market is in excess of 120 days and approximately 8% of properties are selling of those listed for sale in any month! Meanwhile we have an 80% strike rate on Auctions…..Just Saying!

There is one thing that I do know for sure and that is that ‘You can’t sell a home if you do not have a buyer’ and the traffic of potential buyers certainly increases during our Auction campaigns…..it stands to reason that you would have an increased chance of sale in a Tough Market?

 

Zuccoli Aspire News May 2016

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$$$$, Boom, Darwin, First Homebuyers, Home, House, House Price, INPEX, Investment, Northern Territory, NT News, Property, Raine & Horne, Real Estate, Zuccoli Aspire

Here is your chance to catch up with all the news about the fastest selling Land Estate in the Northern Territory straight from the mouths of the Developers.

Landlords urged to keep quality tenants in Darwin Rental Market

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$$$$, Darwin, Property, Property Management, Raine & Horne, Rental

Darwin landlords urged to move early to keep quality tenants

With vacancy rates plateauing at about 5.5%, landlords are being urged to pay attention to quality tenants to safeguard them against an empty property this wet season.

“The reality is that there is still a surplus of 1,200 rental properties in the Darwin market, the same figure as 6-8 months ago,” said Glenn Grantham, General Manager, Raine & Horne Darwin.

“The market is levelling out with virtually the same amount of new tenants and new rental properties hitting the market every month.”

Raine & Horne Darwin, for example, is averaging 20 new managements a month and 20 new leases.

“We have consistently had about 25 vacant properties at the end of each month for the past six months. Yet we’ve been putting on 20 new managements and leasing around the same number of rental properties. This means we have a lively rental market, but the new activity isn’t eating into the surplus – it’s a zero sum game,” said Mr Grantham.

With the Darwin investment market in a holding pattern, Mr Grantham warns that the duty is on landlords to be sensible about their weekly rental expectations.

“If you are putting the property into the rental market for the first time, you need to be realistic about the asking price. This means listening to your property manager and checking out online what similar properties are leasing for,” said Mr Grantham.

“If you don’t listen to the market, you’ll be an investor without an income.”

For landlords who are facing the end of a lease, Mr Grantham advises them to approach their tenant before they test the market.

“If you have a tenant who is looking after the property and paying the rent on time, approach them immediately with some carrots, such as a discount on their current weekly rent, to ensure they stay put.

“Don’t try and convince them to stay after they have decided to move on. By then it will be too late.”

The strongest rental markets continue to be in the housing markets in the northern suburbs of Darwin such as Milner, Jingili and Moil, where yields of 5.5% are still possible and vacancy rates are below the Darwin average.

“There are 350 two bedroom apartments sitting vacant in Darwin, so this market still has some way to go” said Mr Grantham.

NT News Zuccoli Aspire Selling Like Hotcakes!

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Darwin, First Homebuyers, NT News, Property, Real Estate, Zuccoli Aspire

Here is a copy of the article on Page 4 of NT News today.

I am advised by my PR team that we have had 52 Media Release hits and repeat releases on this article in Newsrooms all over the World!

Putting Darwin and specifically Zuccoli Aspire on the big stage!

http://www.ntnews.com.au/realestate/getting-a-foot-in-doorof-new-homes-at-last/story-fnk4wt05-1227516891213

Real Estate Clerical Team

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Clerical, Darwin, Property, Property Management, Raine & Horne, Real Estate, Reception, Sales

I took the opportunity a while back to have a chat with my ‘Front Desk Superstars’ so I could find out what they thought about working at Raine & Horne Darwin.

They are the new breed who are at the doorstep of a future in Real Estate. It’s great to know that they are not just pretty faces.

So many of our senior people in both Property Management and Senior Support Roles started on our front desk.

Have a listen to what makes them tick!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7IGPvntrPE&feature=youtu.be

Buyers on the ground in Darwin if the price is right

Tags

Darwin, Land, Northern Territory, Projects, Property, Sales, Selling, Zuccoli, Zuccoli Aspire

Here is a copy of my Press Release discussing the state of the Darwin Marketplace – Front Page News!

With volumes and median prices down from the peaks of two years ago, it’s fair to describe Darwin as a buyers’ market, according to leading real estate expert, Glenn Grantham, General Manager, Raine & Horne Darwin.

Yet exchange of 132 contracts in eight weeks at the Zuccoli Aspire project in Palmerston, where land releases start from $116,000, prove that well-located, well-priced Darwin real estate will bring buyers out of the woodwork.

“In some sub-markets, sales volumes are down on their averages, while median prices have come back by around 7.5% and a bit more in some cases, which is to be expected given the strong bull market we had between about 2008 and 2013,” says Mr Grantham.

“Darwin real estate is a contrarian market. When southern real estate markets were wallowing in the GFC mire, the Darwin market was powering along.

“Now that Sydney, Melbourne, and to a lesser extent Brisbane, are motoring along, there is less money for Darwin real estate.

“Reports that the Inpex project was winding down late last year also didn’t help the cause for the sale of established homes and apartments in Darwin, with the news of major job losses wide of the mark.”

The good news for Darwin real estate, however, is that first home buyer activity is collecting pace.

“While overall market conditions are flat, there are buyers willing to transact, which is illustrated by the fact that we exchanged 132 contracts in eight weeks on the Zuccoli Aspire project,” said Mr Grantham.

“These are the best valued blocks in Darwin or Palmerston, sitting at roughly 330 sqm in size and selling for $116,000, which is about $70,000 cheaper than any land available in our region.

“These exchanges demonstrate that buyers are there, however activity is price point driven and it is very value oriented.”

Raine & Horne Darwin will release details of the next stage at Zuccoli Aspire in coming weeks, with strong demand expected from first home buyers.

“Zuccoli Aspire is tapping into the first home buyers’ market, as a lot of first timers are coming through with the $26,000 grant made available by the NT Government for those buying new properties or land packages,” said Mr Grantham.

“Zuccoli is also attracting people who were probably resigned to being long-term renters, because property values below $140,000 were as rare as hen’s teeth in Darwin, or they couldn’t find the quality at the price point that this land release represents.”

For those new to real estate or for those with established portfolios, Mr Grantham is confident that the long-term portents for Darwin are robust due to a significant number of non-mining infrastructure projects that are underway in Darwin, which will fuel local employment opportunities and real estate activity.

These projects include the Tiger Brennan Drive Extension project, which is the largest and most significant section of the $127 million East Arm Port Access Route, which is expected to improve traffic flow to East Arm Port and Palmerston.

“There are also the expansions at Casuarina Square, the new Gateway Shopping Centre and the Coolalinga retail precincts, not to mention land developments in Palmerston, the New Woolworths in Palmerston, as well as extensions to Royal Darwin Hospital and the new Palmerston Hospital.

“These are all big projects, which have been committed to, and most importantly will employ thousands of local workers,” said Mr Grantham.

“Projects such as Inpex always have a large element of fly-in-fly-out (FIFO) workers, who didn’t actually do much for the Darwin economy, or buy or rent local properties.”

Market Update – Darwin’s No 1 Selling Development

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Buyers, Darwin, First Homebuyers, Property, Raine & Horne, Real Estate, Zuccoli Aspire

I grabbed the opportunity to talk with the guys responsible for handling the sales in Zuccoli Aspire and see what was next for Darwin’s No 1 Selling Development.

132 Contracts Exchanged in 8 weeks with less than 10 blocks available in Stages 1A & 1B means that the Developer is fast tracking some more land.

Find out what is going on in the attached VLOG below.

https://youtu.be/ZzLeK5w7ZHA

Darwin Home Sales

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ABC, Buyer, Darwin, First Homebuyers, Interview, Property, Raine & Horne, Real Estate, Selling

The volume of Sales in Darwin dropped dramatically in July.

Here is a grab of the ABC Interview from yesterday discussing the reasons why!

Zuccoli Aspire gets a good run as it’s the only stuff selling well in the Darwin Area right now!

Darwin Property BOOM!

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$$$$, Boom, Darwin, Home, House, Median, Property, Selling

Well that is a headline that flies in the face of all reports on Darwin that you will hear in the press!

However it is simply what we are experiencing with the release of Zuccoli Aspire.

181 Blocks released 11 days ago and 90% contracted and committed to in this time.

I would say that constitutes BOOM buying. It appears that the developers have tapped into a buyer market that was previously unsatisfied in the NT. Watch the VLOG attached and see what is going on and coming up!

https://youtu.be/oXDPVXB7r2E

Urgent Darwin Property Market News

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$$$$, Darwin, First Homebuyers, House Price, Median, Property, Raine & Horne, Residential, Urgent, Vacant Land

Residential Land available to Darwin Homebuyers from $117 000!

This is without doubt the biggest news to hit the Darwin Residential Property Market in at least the last decade and potentially the last 40 years!

The attached video features the Developer and Sales Agents – Raine & Horne Darwin who will commence public release of Stage 1 of Zuccoli Aspire comprising almost 200 blocks on the 20th June.

These properties will provide the opportunity for homebuyers and investors alike to purchase the best value land in any Australian Capital City.

Contact Adam McCann on 0499 558 842 to ensure that you have an appointment to purchase.