It would take more than two decades for Perth's median house price to catch up to Sydney's, report shows
Perth’s median home price is likely to remain the most affordable in Australia for some time, according to the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia.
WA remains one of the most affordable places in the country to buy property. REIWA’s latest Real Estate Market Facts report found that during the March quarter, Perth had the most affordable median house sale price of any capital city in the country at $525,750.
“To put our affordability into context, REIWA calculated how long it would take for Perth’s median house sale price to catch up to the current median prices in other capital cities at an annual growth rate of five per cent,” REIWA president Damian Collins wrote in a blog post.
REIWA’s analysis found that it would take 23 years for Perth’s median house sale price to catch up to Sydney’s $1.5 million median, 18 years to catch Melbourne’s $1.22 million median, 13 years to catch Canberra’s $982,000 median, 10 years to catch Hobart’s $820,000 median, and eight years to catch Brisbane’s $760,000 median.
Despite WA’s affordability, Collins said stamp duty remains a key issue in the state.
“Even though we are the most affordable state and have the highest population of first home buyers in our owner-occupier market of any state or territory in the country, more needs to be done to ensure first home buyers remain an active component of our local market,” Collins wrote. “It is well known that stamp duty is one of the biggest financial imposts placed on first home buyers when trying to save for a home. For most first home buyers, servicing a loan is manageable, it is the upfront cost of a deposit and stamp duty (which equates to an extra $20,000 on top of the deposit for a median priced home in Perth) that presents the biggest challenge.”
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Collins said that one way to ease that burden would be to ensure that the duty-free thresholds and concessional rates for first-home buyers reflect the current market. The Perth median home sale price has grown strongly over the last couple of years – which is why Collins said that the duty-free threshold should be lifted from $430,000 to $530,000.
“This would help more West Australians buy their first home and free up some much-needed rental stock,” he said.
