NT Government takes steps against rising house prices
The government land release program in the Northern Territory has seen a record number of new residential titles issued in Greater Darwin in an effort to assist with subduing rising prices, with the Government saying rising prices are good for investors but not for everyone.
In total last year, 935 titles were issued following 677 titles issues in 2013. Last year’s result is a 38% increase on 2013, which was already up 27% on 2012.
Peter Chandler, Minister for Lands and Planning, said that they are looking to push down the cost of living by assisting with the housing crisis and tracking the land release.
“In just over two years, the Country Liberals have released enough land in the Greater Darwin Area to support also most 6,000 dwellings,” he said.
He said that the increase in titles being issued is “encouraging”.
“This means more homes are being built, more construction work is underway and more jobs are being created,” said Chandler.
He said that the per annum growth rate, that went up to 11% in recent years, is a result of the housing shortage.
“That level of growth, while great for investors, is not sustainable and meant Territorians were hurting,” Chandler said.
“What we’ve seen over the last two years is that growth stabilise to the point where in some market sectors, like CBD apartments, rents are actually decreasing,” he said, pointing to data from Raine & Horne.