In February 2020, the Prime Minister visited RAAF base Tindal just outside Katherine to announce $1.6 Billion to be spent on base upgrades for the next five years, creating a promising economic platform and plenty of opportunities for the Katherine region.

The ongoing RAAF base project has seen a massive influx of contractors travelling to Katherine prompting a dramatic increase in property enquiries our staff at LJ Hooker. With the residential housing market already highly sought after by the Police, Education and Health Departments, the project fueled a soaring uptrend of rental prices and property demand with a price rise of eight per cent rise over the last 12 months for the average three bedroom house in Katherine.

The booming market has also created confidence within the community to buy, seeing locals purchase their first home and/or their first investment property. Attractive rental yields are drawing interstate investors towards prosperous opportunities in Katherine driving house prices up by over 11.3 per cent over the last 12 months.

Although this expenditure at the RAAF Base Tindal is a great boost for Katherine, we must learn the lessons of the Darwin Inpex project boom and bust cycle. We need to keep supporting our Tourism, Live Cattle Export, Mining, Agriculture and Horticulture Industries to continue to drive the residential housing market.

Prolonged housing shortages and inflated property values are concerns for many.

We urge the NT Government to release more residential and commercial land; in the last quarter alone only 11 residential land sales in the Katherine region for the last six months.

Despite all this I’m excited about the ongoing opportunities in both the Residential and Commercial market in the Katherine area.

Wayne Nayda is a Territory local of over 40 years and has been in the Katherine Real Estate market for over 10. He is the Managing Director of LJ Hooker Katherine and has witnessed the ever changing Katherine market.