Darwin renters benefit as 'prices dive, vacancies soar', report shows

A research company has found it is a renters' market in Darwin, with prices diving in the past year and the number of vacant properties more than doubling.

The findings from SQM Research showed the median house rent in Darwin fell 12.7, per cent during the past 12 months, to $636 per week, while for units it dropped 2.6 per cent to $513 per week.

Managing director of SQM Louis Christopher said even with the big drop, prices in Darwin were still high.

"That is pretty expensive rent, especially when you compare it to some of the other capital cities around the country," Mr Christopher told 105.7 ABC Darwin.

He said he thought rents could drop even further as Darwin's commodity-driven economy weakened due to a softer mining and commodities sector.

As well as falling prices, there are more options for people seeking to rent in Darwin, with the vacancy rate surging.

Figures from SQM showed that in January last year there were 391 rental properties vacant, but a year later that figure had jumped to 905.

The results from the Northern Territory Real Estate Institute's (REINT) most recent Quarterly Statistics report support that data.

REINT chief executive Quentin Kilian said the December 2014 report showed a jump in vacancies and a slump in rental prices, thanks to a saturated property market.

"One of the reasons in the unit market is we've seen a large number of units come into marketplace over the last 12 months," he said.

"That could have been driven by developers' expectations several years ago of an influx of Inpex workers in the project's early stages."

However he said the number of Inpex workers looking to buy or rent was less than many expected, as workers tended to stay in temporary purpose-built workers' villages.

"The Inpex workforce they were hoping would come and populate those apartment isn't doing that," Mr Kilian said.

"There has not been the population growth that was expected. Therefore there is an increase in supply, but not an increased demand to go with it."

Mr Kilian said landlords and tenants would have to wait and see how the next phase of the $34 billion Inpex project might affect the market.

"Whether all of those people can be accommodated in those villages, or whether they will flow into the private rental market is yet to be seen," he said.

"How many will be fly-in, fly-out? How many will be sourced from the local workforce? ... It's a little hard to predict what the impact will be."

Mr Kilian said the more pertinent question was how the Territory would create a strong and stable housing market through a strong economy.

He said that would rest on attracting longer term businesses to keep the economy growing after big projects like Inpex finished up and left.

Inpex to lift rents 'by 10 to 15 per cent'

Darwin real estate agency Raine and Horne managing director Glenn Grantham did not dispute the REINT figures, but said he disagreed about forward projections for rents in Darwin.

Mr Grantham said the Inpex project would tighten the rental market.

"We've got a bit of a wild card at the moment with Inpex ramping up to Phase Two," he said.

"They are talking about having their number of workers at their maximum point of 8,000, whereas last year they only had 3,500.

"You are still saying they are going to accommodate 4,500 people. Where are the other 3,500 people going to go?

"My prediction is we'll probably see an increase of 10, maybe 15 per cent in rental prices by mid to late this year due to competition in the marketplace."

No significant impact, Inpex says

A spokesperson for Japanese-owned Inpex said it did not expect the next phase of the project to have what it described as a "significant impact" on the local rental market.

"The non-local workforce will be housed in temporary fly-in, fly-out accommodation, including that provided at the purpose-built Manigurr-ma Village, Bladin Village and Darwin Airport Lodge (if required), with management staff in serviced apartments and a small number of supervisory personnel in hotel accommodation," the company said.

It said it expected 8,000 people to be on site "on any given day during peak construction, which is expected mid-2015 to mid-2016".

"This figure includes local workers, fly-in fly-out workers and management staff."

Inpex said about 60 per cent of the workforce employed at the Bladin Point site to this point had been "locals", but that ratio would probably fall.

"This is expected to shift as the project progresses from the civil construction phase to the mechanical and electrical phase, where the availability of people with these skills and experience in Darwin and the Northern Territory tightens."

It said it was committed to maximising local employment "wherever achievable ... and about 30 per cent of the workforce is expected to be local".