Property Council of Australia's NT Executive Director Ruth Palmer says median house prices in Darwin have risen to $656,000, a trend that she expects will continue and she’s continuing to lobby the Federal Government to increase the property price cap for Darwin under its 5 per cent deposit scheme

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now we know the calls for the first home buyer
cap to be lifted on the federal government's First Home
Buyer scheme. They're getting louder as the territory housing market
continues to shift. Ruth Palmer joined us a couple of
weeks ago to talk about the climbing costs making it
more difficult for locals to access the scheme. Now Ruth,
the executive director of the Property Council, joins me on

(00:22):
the line right now. Good morning to your Ruth.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
Good morning Katie.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
Ruth and numbers they're continuing to grow when it comes
to homes in Darwin and Palmerston. I mean since we
last spoke, what have we seen? Have we seen these things?
You know, like the house prices continue to go up,
houses stock levels looking.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
Yeah, that's right, Katie. When we last spoke we were
talking about that six hundred thousand cap and our June
report showing that the median house price was at six
hundred thousand. The latest Domain report that was in September,
which was published in the Australian Financial Review, has the
house prices the median house price now at six hundred
and fifty six thousand. We are seeing that steady increase

(01:02):
and it's jump to about ten percent just in the
last six months, so it is something that we're tracking.
It is something that we've tracked now for a year's
part of our reporting. But now that latest domain report
has that medium house price at six hundred and fifty
six thousand dollars, So these are numbers that can't be ignored.
So that it is happening, and my feeling is that

(01:23):
it will continue to grow because we are seeing that
increase around construction activity, building approvals, our employment rising, and
that workforce participation increasing.

Speaker 1 (01:33):
And we're like, we really don't have a lot of
stock available either, do we I know that therese you know,
there's quite a few units and townhouses available, but when
you're talking about standalone houses, there's not a loss.

Speaker 2 (01:46):
Yeah, that's right. And you know, we have a very
tight rental market at the moment at one point seven percent,
so you can see that all lives are on the territory.
So we do need to make sure that we are
supporting existing stock that is in the market, but that
we've also got the capacity to be able to build
new properties right across the territory, not just in Darwin,

(02:06):
right across the territory, but also looking at that existing
stock as well, so what is available and they're not
sitting at six hundred thousand and under Ruth.

Speaker 1 (02:15):
Have you had the opportunity to speak to the Member
for Solomon, Luke Gosling or to get in contact with
the federal Housing Minister about this.

Speaker 2 (02:24):
Yeah, absolutely so I have been in contact with Luke
and I have given him some data around where that
six hundred and fifty six thousand comes from. But one
of the benefits of being part of a national organization
with the Property Council is we do have that direct
line into the federal government. So I know my team
down in New South Wales and Victoria, part of our
National Advocacy Group, are working with the Housing Minister on

(02:48):
now looking at bringing this cap up because one of
the things is is if you're not talking about it,
if you're not bringing it to the forefront, it's not
something that will get addressed. So we know the federal
government has eight jurisdic to be looking at. All of
those governments are probably in their ear going. We want
an increase, We want an increase. We need as industry
to be pushing and pushing to make sure that the

(03:10):
territory isn't forgotten. We know that we haven't seen movement
in the last few years with our housing prices, but
it's really beneficial for me to be able to tap
into our national teams to actually get their foot in
the door, which I know they've done, so we hopefully,
you know, we will see that change. There are still
tweaks that can happen. We can see that movement. So
now we need to just make sure we keep the

(03:31):
pressure on as the industry here in the Northern Territory
that the territory is open for business. People are coming here.
Activity is happening, and we need to keep that momentum,
that momentum going.

Speaker 1 (03:43):
Rousie, from your perspective, why is it so important that
we get this sorted out?

Speaker 2 (03:50):
Well, we've got essential workers, Katie, central workers, first home buyers,
they're single parents. We need to make sure that it's
fair and equitable for everyone to be able to access.
If we've only got a few houses on the market
at six hundred thousand and under, then that's going to
drive people then into more rentals, which again with a
titan market, is not something that we want to be seeing.

(04:11):
So if we've got a few properties at six hundred
thousand or under. It's really locking people out. So the
people we need to be supporting are the people who
want to get into homes. Otherwise again we are just
putting them back on the rental market and paying higher
prices given that squeeze. Some people choose to rent, that's
absolutely up to them. But some people who want to

(04:32):
actually put their roots down in their territory, they want
to call the territory home, they want to grow and
raise their families here, they want to work here. They
could be five fou workers as well. We need to
provide them as many opportunities as we can to be
able to make them permanent territories, because that's how we're
going to create a stable economy, stable population, which again

(04:54):
grows our own workforce as well well.

Speaker 1 (04:57):
Property Council of Australia's Northern Territory Executive Director Ruth Palmer,
I really appreciate your time this morning. We're due to
catch up with Luke Gosling tomorrow, so we'll see if
we can get a bit of an update from him
on this median house price and whether they're going to
change that cap.

Speaker 2 (05:12):
Yeah, and I just want to let territorianes know that
we have their back. We're doing everything we can, and
I'm absolutely pushing at every single level that i can
to have this cap lifted.

Speaker 1 (05:21):
Good stuff, Ruth, good to speak to you this morning.
Thanks so much for your time. Thanks Katie, thank you