Positive signs emerging in subdued Perth property market
Perth’s housing market decline appears to be slowing, with CoreLogic’s latest home value index showing the rate of decline for dwelling values in Perth has held at -0.4 per cent for a second consecutive month.
REIWA President Damian Collins said while prices remained soft, the percentage at which dwelling values were dropping had slowed from -1.46 per in February 2019 to -0.4 per cent in March and April.
“March and April have recorded the lowest level of declines since June 2018, which is an encouraging sign in a challenging market. While we don’t expect to see any notable price increases in the immediate future, price values look like they are starting to stabilise,” Mr Collins said.
Despite overall dwelling prices being down during the month, reiwa.com sales data shows 25 per cent of suburbsacross the metro area recorded an increase in median house sale price in April.
“Gosnells was the top performing suburb in April, with its median sale price increasing 3.4 per cent during the month. Other suburbs to record an improvement were Dudley Park, Scarborough, Marangaroo and Canning Vale,” Mr Collins said.
reiwa.com data also shows the volume of properties for sale on the market reduced three per cent during the month.
“While these latest figures indicate we might be seeing the signs of a recovery on the horizon, our local market is still fragile. With the federal election looming, REIWA remains concerned that any changes to national tax policies, like negative gearing and capital gains tax, will further stifle any green shoots of improvement that may be starting to emerge,” Mr Collins said.
“We need our state and federal governments to do everything they can to support the recovery of the WA property market – not hinder it.”
Rental market
House and unit rent prices are each up $10 per week compared to April 2018.
“Perth’s median house and unit prices have strengthened in the last 12 months. reiwa.com data shows the median weekly house rent has increased from $350 to $360 over the last year, while unit rents have lifted from $320 to $330,” Mr Collins said.
Perth’s overall median rent price continues to hold at $350 per week, however a closer look at the data shows 24 per cent of suburbs recorded a price increase during the month.
“The suburbs to record the most notable growth in median rent price in April were Stirling, Mindarie, Rivervale, Hamilton Hill and Quinns Rock,” Mr Collins said.
reiwa.com data shows there were 7,193 properties for rent on reiwa.com at the end of April.
“While rental listings are down 20 per cent compared to April 2018, they have increased seven per cent during the month. This has come at a time when listings for sale have started to decline, despite sales remaining low, which could indicate that vendors are choosing to remove their property from the market and try their hand at renting it out instead,” Mr Collins said.
Source: REIWA
related posts:
Better times ahead for the Perth property market
Time to buy in Perth’s top suburbs
Why Perth property is making a comeback
