Perth sees smallest price decline among capital cities thanks to WA economy, high affordability
The CEO of the Real Estate Institute of Australia said Perth’s home values remained resilient despite price falls last month.
CoreLogic’s home value index fell 0.2% in October, the smallest decline among the capital cities. REIWA CEO Cath Hart said the Perth market continues to be resilient compared to other states. She credited the strong Western Australian economy, the resources sector and housing affordability.
“It is pleasing to see Perth home values were relatively stable in October,” Hart said. “To put things into perspective, Brisbane’s home value index declined 2.0% and Sydney’s declined 1.3%. The main drivers for [Perth’s lower decline] are the low level of stock and our affordability, with Perth median house prices the cheapest of any capital city. There is nothing in the Perth property market right now indicating that house prices will fall drastically anytime soon.”
The top-performing Perth suburbs for price growth in October were Quinns Rocks (up 3.6% to $570,00), Warnbro (up 2.5% to $410,000), Hamilton Hill (up 2.2% to $595,000), Currambine (up 1.9% to $655,000) and Butler (up 1.9% to $420,000).
There were 8,169 properties for sale on reiwa.com at the end of October. This was on par with the previous month and 5.9% lower than the levels posted a year ago.
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“We are still experiencing a housing and labour shortage concurrently, which is resulting in good outcomes for sellers but competitive conditions for those wanting to buy,” Hart said. “With the population continuing to grow, this is adding pressure on an already strained housing market, and it will remain this way until we have more housing stock. This demand for housing is expected to keep market conditions strong.”
The median time to sell a house in October was 15 days, according to REIWA.
“We are still seeing Perth houses being snapped up at a remarkable rate, with no indication of it slowing down despite interest rate rises,” Hart said. “In a balanced market the median time to sell a home would be 30-40 days, so a median of 15 days really means prospective buyers should have all their ducks in a row to avoid missing out.”
