If you are thinking of moving to Darwin...

[erick]

...better rob a bank or two on the way.

I just visited and land prices (and consequently house prices and rentals) are rocketing upwards.

In 2007 this was the assessment:-

"Also reliant on the resources sector, Darwin has reached an affordability peak relative to the buying capacity of its population. Even a slight drop in business investment in this market could affect the housing sector and it is highly unlikely that we will see other than small and slower price increases in 2008. The median house price in Darwin reached $400,000 in 2007. Darwin has become the most expensive rental location, with a 34.4% annual increase in median rents and the median weekly house rental reaching $440. Already limited levels of rental stock will continue to be pressured in 2008 as more employees are attracted to resources jobs"


(I wish she would write with double negatives :shrug:)



However, today it seems likely a second huge gas processing plant will be announced. That will put a further rocket under land prices.

[Ian Robinson]

I'd love to move to Darwin , but only if I had a permanent residential job up there to go to .... the new gas plant might produce that .... engineers get great money in the north .... I would expect around a package of $160k at my level.

I'd also love to move permanently to the north Queensland or the Pilbara or Kimberly (the Kimberly is wonderful country), similar $ , but add subsidised company housing , subsidised power and subsidised water and airconditioning costs (and it's all pretty good there).

I wouldn't mind living out my retirement in northern Queensland, the Kimberley (Broome or Kununarra) or in Darwin either .... great climate, great fishing, lots of great places to go on 4x4 safari to , very dark and clear skies in easy reach for most of the year - it's not rainy or cloudy all the time in the wet season BTW.

NSW sucks but I am stuck here until I get that job. And Sydney is a cesspit , you probably couldn't pay me enough to move there to live, yet alone go to work there. I HATE DRIVING IN SYDNEY.


Eric : the nature of the beast is that most the people who go to Darwin to help build the gas plant will be itinerant (FIFO) and will be put up in motels or shared apartments or camps (on site) , there will likely only be a few hundred permanent workers once the plant is commissioned so the impact on home availability will not be that great in Darwin and most people who go there to work will be on BIG $s.

[leon]

Wouldn't move there for quids, :screwy: however my dear wife visited her niece last year and said she could easily move there to live, :shrug:
See ya Alice :lol: :lol:

Leon :thumbsup:

[§AB]

oh I'd love to move to Darwin. Get the hell outta this cold and cloudy limbo once and for all!

[Solanum]

I've got a mate lives up there, seems pretty happy with the place. Saw him this week actually and he did say how the house prices had rocketed and how tight the rental market is. He is 10km out of town in order to find somewhere they can afford - in a town of 100,000!

[erick]

I was talking to people who were looking at buying a few thousand sq metres of land in Darwin or Palmerston - $5-6m! It's not going to happen. And a basic three bedroom house on under 1000 sq metres - not less than $500,000.

And the Agents were saying - when that second gas plant is announced.......!

[§AB]

Think that's bad, try Port hedland.

A colourbond shack that resembles a Bangkok slum will set you back $700,000!

[erick]

Yes I heard that. Saw a TV program - folks earning >$300,000 into the family could only afford to stay in caravans - couldn't get into property!

[AstralTraveller]

I spent 8 months in Kununurra in 87-88 and yes it is a great place, provided you don't want any fancy services or amenities that you take for granted in the big cities. Now that you can buy many things over the internet the feeling of isolation would be much less. You also need to be able to cope with 3-4 months of 40+ temperatures, and I mean 40+ from 7am until 10pm.

However I never saw a decent sky the whole time I was there. Generally clear but not transparent or stable. It wasn't until we got to the top of the King Leopold Ranges that we saw good skies again. I spent my 30th birthday up there checking out far northern Messier objects - magic.

[AstralTraveller]

I spent 7 months there and I can safely say that it isn't the end of the Earth - but you can see it from there! Driving the truck about 6-7km from the harbour I could see the plimsel line on the ships. On Sundays we would drive 20km just to find a tree to picnic under. If we wanted a swim it was 80km to the de Gray River. What kept us there? $$$ Even in '88 we were netting >$1000pw (combined) from very low-paying jobs and paying $50pw rent. It was quite an experience but not one I hope to repeat.

[Ian Robinson]

Been and worked there , there is the old town - Port Hedland, the houses are tinny fibro places (make my 3 bedroom hardyplank and tile place look luxurious) , then there is the old town South Hedland (back to front fibro houses about the same size as mine - a planned town) ... we wont go into what I think of South Hedland, and there is Pretty Pool , where all the toffs and cashed up permanent BHP workers live .... which is as nice a suburb as you'll find anywhere in Australia and is full of houses that are under 10 years old and are top knotch.

I would be reluctant to live in Hedland unless I was I were a permanent BHP employee - they get subsidized rental and power and utilities which makes it very attractive.

Not keen of the number of itinerant FIFO and short termers there - they are BIG TROUBLE and just don't assimulate into the community or participate or contribute anything worthwhile.

Climate in Hedland is HOT , 50-60 C in summer is not unheard off and there is a drinking culture.
The local blacks can be a problem in South Hedland too - they come into town to drink and get up to mischief ....

[Ian Robinson]

I saw the program too - if it is accurate - then things have gotten very much worse than it was when I was there with my family in 1999-2000.

Considering the DRI plant is closed now , and so over 1000 workers (a lot of them were FIFO and shorttermers) have disappeared from Hedland , I can't seen how .

The people who were interviewed were all itinerants .... they think the place is a **** hole and behave accordingly .... I know BHPer who live and work there and they give a different story.
But then look at the Bowen Valley , Mt Isa, Mackay, Townsville, and other towns who have big involvements in the resource industries - the lack of housing unless you are Company person , is a problem there too.

[goober]

Darwin - bit of a boom town. They just formally signed the Japanese gas plant, I think.

Visited there in 2003 - lovely spot. Spent ten days touring, drank 5 litres of water a day, and peed 3 times on the whole trip :)

[Ian Robinson]

My wife and son and I loved the place - we visited in mid 2000, and we were taken very much by how lush and green and shady the streets in suburbs were.

My wife and I would happily live out our lives there if I were to get a job in Darwin (on the big $s of cause).

[BalderAsir]

i live there (except for the time been as im training in vic) great place, but yes, expensive as hell.

[Bobj]

Mate, some of the best living is in Qld and/or the NT. Pic 1 is Dundee Beach. Pic 2 is a sunrise at Ball Bay, Mackay, qld.

Been thinking of moving over to Dundee Beach, NT http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?a=s&cu=fn-rea&s=nt&ss=&ag=&t=lan&snf=rbs&chk=0&lead=&ty=&searchFormSource=advanced+search&tb=+DUNDEE+BEACH%2C+&u=DUNDEE+BEACH&is=1&pm=&px=&pme=any&pxe=any&minlandsize=&frontage=&p=10&o=def

[Kevnool]

What about observing during the summer is it a miss or do the storms in the arvo fizz out at night ......Cause i simlpy dont know ?

[Bobj]

When I lived in Kununurra, WA, the monsoons would drown out everything; three weeks solid you could not see the sun, let alone the stars.
Here, in the Mackay area, about 4 nights out of the week is cloud covered during 'the wet', with up to two weeks of no sun/stars.
But the rest of the year:eyepop::eyepop:

[Ian Robinson]

Wont argue with that ... been to both places and would love to live near them both permanently.

[Ian Robinson]

The livestyle and natural features and nearby waters and countryside would be more than adequate compensation for expensive land.

Who says you have to live in suburban Darwin anyway , there are plenty of smaller communities within an easy drive of the city where you get all the benefits of being near an international hub as well as the community and lifestyle aspects of a country town ,as well lots of great places to go boating, fishing, camping, 4wding.
Can't see many negatives .... just need that great paying permanent senior or lead or principal level engineering or engineering management role and dismal and decaying Newcastle and NSW would not see my wife and I for the dust we'd out of here so quick.

Would be nice to go fishing and most aways catch something worth keeping too for a change.
Astronomy is minor aspect in this regard.

[BalderAsir]

bob mate i'd avoid moving to Dundee. until they get of generator power the place is becoming a ghost town. much better to just live in darwin or palmerston and drive 20mins outta town for nice viewing. Hell, even Humpty Doo will get you awesome view's of the milky way