This section provides analysis on the performance of the Northern Territory's (NT) residential housing market, including property prices and rents by region, housing affordability and finance commitments, and building activity and approvals.
Key facts | Greater Darwin | Alice Springs | Katherine | Tennant Creek | Capital city comparison | Housing finance commitments | Affordability | Dwelling supply | Explanatory notes
Key facts
Greater Darwin
In the December quarter 2023 the:
- median house price decreased by 5.1% to $560,000, however increased by 3.7% annually
- median unit price increased by 1.3% to $405,000, and increased by 1.3% annually
- median weekly house rents increased by 6.8% to $600 per week, and increased by 0.2% annually
- median weekly unit rents increased by 0.4% to $487 per week, and increased by 4.7% annually
- number of houses sold increased by 25.9% to 365 and decreased by 10.5% annually
- number of units sold decreased by 10.4% to 308, however decreased by 6.4% annually
- Darwin rental yield for houses increased by 0.6 ppt to 5.6%, however decreased by 0.2 ppt annually
- Palmerston rental yield for houses decreased by 0.1 ppt to 5.3%, and decreased by 0.4 ppt annually
- Darwin vacancy rate for all dwellings decreased by 0.2 ppt to 3.0%, reflecting a 1.1 ppt decrease to 2.6% for houses and a 0.2 ppt increase to 3.2% for units.
- Palmerston vacancy rates for all dwellings decreased by 0.5 ppt to 2.6%, reflecting a 0.3 ppt increase to 2.4% for houses and a 0.5 ppt decrease to 2.8% for units.
Alice Springs
In the December quarter 2023 the:
- median house price decreased by 3.8% to $505,000 and decreased by 1.6% annually
- median unit price increased by 8.0% to $350,000, however decreased by 8.1% annually
- median weekly house rents increased by 14.3% to $560 and was flat in annual terms
- median weekly unit rent increased by 7.1% to $450 and increased by 5.9% annually
- number of houses sold increased by 26.4% to 67, however decreased by 15.2% annually
- number of unit sold increased by 64.3% to 46, and increased by 48.4% annually
- rental yield for houses increased by 0.9 ppt to 5.8% and by 0.1 ppt annually
- Alice springs vacancy rate for houses was 9.1%.
Katherine
In the December quarter 2023 the:
- median house price increased by 7.3% to $402,500, however decreased by 5.3% annually
- median unit price decreased by 17.1% to $255,000, however increased by 34.2% annually
- the number of houses sold decreased by 20.0% to 12 while units sold decreased from 4 to 2
- median house rent increased by 7.5% to $500 and decreased by 3.8% in annual terms The house rental yield was flat at 6.5% and by 0.1 ppt annually
- median unit rents decreased by 3.8% to $385 and decreased by 7.2% annually
- Katherine vacancy rate for all dwellings decreased by 2.2 ppt to 0.4%, reflecting a decrease invacancy rates for houses of 2.9ppt to 0.0%, and a decrease of 1.2 ppt to 0.8% for units.
Caution should be used when interpreting quarterly movements for Katherine, as the small size of these markets and low number of sales can lead to volatile results.
Tennant Creek
In the December quarter 2023:
- the median house price increased by 47.5% to $299,500, however decreased by 6.4% annually
- there were 8 houses sold
Data is highly volatile due to the lower sales volume as there are only a small number of properties on the market. Consequently, the Real Estate Institute of the Northern Territory does not report sales, rental prices or vacancy rates for units in Tennant Creek.
Capital city comparisons
In the December quarter 2023:
- Darwin had the lowest median house price of the capital cities at $560,000
- the eight capital city weighted average median house price was $1,005,242, an increase of 1.8% in the quarter and increase of 5.3% annually
- Darwin median unit price ($405,000) was the lowest of the capital cities
- the eight capital city weighted average median unit price was $658,953, an increase of 1.7% in the quarter and an increase of 5.8% annually
- Darwin had the third highest median weekly house rent ($600) and the third lowest median unit rent ($487) of all capital cities
- Darwin recorded the highest vacancy rate of all capital cities at 2.9%
- Darwin’s vacancy rate is susceptible to fluctuations due to the transient nature of the NT’s population.
Housing finance commitments
In the year to January 2024 the:
- number of housing commitments (excluding refinancing) decreased by 23.3% to 2,330.
- value of total housing commitments for owner occupation (excluding refinancing) decreased by 22.7% to $958 million.
For the latest data and analysis about housing finance commitments in the NT, see the Department of Treasury and Finance’s Housing finance for owner occupation economic brief.
Affordability
In the December quarter 2023:
- housing affordability in the NT was unchanged.
- the proportion of family income required to meet loan repayments was flat at 33.0%, as the median weekly family income increased by 1.2% to $2,497, and the average monthly loan repayment increased by 1.2% to $3,570.
- NT recorded the lowest proportion of income required to meet loan repayments of all jurisdictions.
- the proportion of median weekly family income required to meet median rent increased by 1.2 ppt to 24.0%.
- NT recorded the fourth least affordable rent of all jurisdictions.
Dwelling supply
For the latest data and analysis about building approvals and building completions in the NT, see the Department of Treasury and Finance’s economic brief Building approvals and Building activity and the Construction industry page.
Explanatory notes
NT median house and unit prices and rents are sourced from the Real Estate Institute of the Northern Territory (REINT). REINT groups the regions of Darwin and Palmerston together as Greater Darwin. Darwin is further broken down into zones that cover the following suburbs:
- Inner Darwin: Bayview, Cullen Bay, Darwin City, East Point, Eaton, Fannie Bay, Larrakeyah, Ludmilla, Parap, RAAF Base Darwin, Stuart Park, The Gardens, The Narrows, Tipperary Waters and Woolner
- Darwin North Coastal: Alawa, Brinkin, Casuarina, Coconut Grove, Jingili, Lyons, Milner, Moil, Muirhead, Nakara, Nightcliff, Rapid Creek, Tiwi, Wagaman and Wanguri
- Darwin North East: Berrimah, Marrara and Winnellie
- Darwin East: Coonwarra and Darwin Airport
- Darwin North: Anula, Bagot, Buffalo Creek, Charles Darwin University, Holmes, Karama, Leanyer, Lee Point, Malak, Northlakes, Sanderson, Woodleigh Gardens and Wulagi
- Caution needs to be used when interpreting quarterly movements for regional markets such as Alice Springs, Katherine and Tennant Creek. The small size of these markets and low number of sales can lead to volatile results.
The median house and unit prices, and rents for the capital cities are sourced from Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA), which receives data from state and territory Real Estate Institutes. REIA adopts the ABS definitions of ‘houses’ and ‘other dwellings.’ A ‘house is a single self-contained place of residence detached from other buildings. An ‘other dwelling’ is a single self-contained place of residence other than a house such as flats, home units, town houses and terrace houses. However for Sydney the definition of ‘houses’ includes houses, cottages, terraces, semi-detached dwellings, townhouses and villas, and ‘units’ include units, studios and duplexes.
REIA’s weighted average median prices are derived from the quarterly median prices for all capital cities weighted according to the number of houses and other dwellings for each corresponding city. These numbers are sourced from the ABS 2011 and 2016 Census.
REIA’s housing affordability data is based on data from lending institutes and the ABS. They define median weekly family income as income from married couples with or without dependent children.
The ABS publication of housing finance commitments are derived from returns submitted to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority and covers housing finance commitments statistics from banks and permanent building societies.