- Darwin has emerged as Australia's top property investment prospect with rising sales activity, affordability, and economic growth.
- Australia's property market is entering a new phase of confidence, with Darwin leading while Perth shows decline after topping the leaderboard in 2024.
- The Australian property market is shifting toward more affordable options in 2025, with infrastructure spending and economic growth driving buyer decisions.
The nature of the property cycle means that most markets eventually get their time at the top of the leaderboard, but an unlikely contender has finally found itself on top, leading Australia’s property investment prospects for the first time.
Hotspotting first noted the beginnings of a Darwin market turn-around in late 2024 when sales activity began to rise.
It is now a market to watch, according to Hotspotting General Manager, Tim Graham.
“All of a sudden, all of the fundamentals are right in Darwin,” Mr Graham said.
“It is Australia’s most affordable capital city property market, and its economy is really gaining traction with projects worth billions underway or in the pipeline.
“This is creating more job opportunities, which leads to further demand for housing and drives up prices.”
Darwin’s property asking prices since 2020
In the second half of 2024, the Darwin market experienced an emphatic rise in transaction levels, which is generally a precursor to future price growth. That lift in transaction levels is continuing in 2025.
“It ticks all the boxes for investment,” Mr Graham said.
“There is infrastructure spending, the economy is growing, and it is producing very high yields.”
Mr Graham said Darwin’s unemployment rate was on the way down, hitting 3.3% in December 2024, which is lower than any other capital city jurisdiction in Australia.
The Northern Territory is now second only to Western Australia for relative annual population growth, which is another key driver of property prices.
“The Australian property market on the whole is entering a new phase of renewed confidence and broad-based momentum,” Mr Graham said.
“The only market showing genuine decline is Greater Perth.”
Mr Graham said Perth, which topped the leaderboard for most of 2024, had definitely passed its peak.
Sales activity has either plateaued or is declining across more than half of its markets, and only about a quarter of Greater Perth markets have positive transaction levels.
Mr Graham said that at a national level, buyers and investors were looking for more affordable options and after solid price growth in the past 18 months, that was not to be found in Perth.
“We are seeing a shift in market sentiment across Australia. The real estate cycle has moved past its correction phase in many areas, setting the stage for a new wave of opportunity and price growth in 2025.”
Tim Graham, Hotspotting
