Widespread price growth across regional WA during September quarter

There was widespread price growth across regional Western Australia during the September 2021 quarter, with eight of the state’s nine regional centres recording an increase in median house sale price.

REIWA President Damian Collins said the regional WA market recovery continued to gain momentum in the September quarter, with the strongest quarterly price growth recorded in Geraldton.

“Geraldton’s median house sale price increased 6.2 per cent to $345,000, which was the strongest performance for price growth of any regional centre during the September quarter,” Mr Collins said.

Broome and Port Hedland also performed well, with their median house sale prices increasing 5.4 per cent to $579,500 and 5.1 per cent to $379,000, respectively.

Annual price growth

On an annual basis, CoreLogic data shows the regional WA home value index increased 19.9 per cent between the September 2020 and 2021 quarters.

"Price growth across regional WA is strong and even outperformed the Perth region for annual growth in the year to September 2021,” Mr Collins said.

reiwa.com data shows all nine regional centres recorded price growth in the year to September 2021.

“Port Hedland was the stand-out regional performer over the last 12 months, with its median house sale price increasing 54.7 per cent,” Mr Collins said.

"A number of factors have contributed to the strong growth in Port Hedland over the last year, such as the desire of mining companies to have a more localised workforce and the implementation of the WA Government's Voluntary Buy-Back Scheme in the West End, which gave residents the option to sell their property for a government-guaranteed market price."

Other regional centres to record strong annual price growth were Geraldton (up 25.5 per cent), Broome (up 22.2 per cent) and Esperance (up 17.4 per cent).

Listings for sale

Four regional centres saw listings volumes increase during the September 2021 quarter.

Karratha recorded the biggest increase, (up 17 per cent), followed by Geraldton (up 15 per cent), Port Hedland (up seven per cent) and Broome (up six per cent).

"Whilst competition for stock is still high, it's pleasing that more properties are coming to market across regional WA. A growing number of property owners recognise there is strong demand from buyers and are feeling motivated to sell,” Mr Collins said.

Busselton and Albany recorded the biggest decline in listing volumes during the quarter, with stock levels in the two centres dropping 20 per cent and 17 per cent respectively.

Median selling days

The median time to sell a property declined in five regional centres during the September 2021 quarter.

Esperance recorded the biggest reduction, with its median selling time dropping 24 days (from 49 days) to 25 days.

"Declining stock levels have caused increased competition amongst buyers in Esperance, resulting in the median time to sell reducing by more than three weeks in just one quarter. If you're a home owner in Esperance thinking of selling, now would be a good time to act,” Mr Collins said.

Busselton had the fastest median selling time of any regional centre during the September 2021 quarter, at 14 days.

"Not only was Busselton the fastest-selling regional centre during the September 2021 quarter, it was the fastest-selling region in the state, outperforming Perth as well,” Mr Collins said.

Regional outlook

"REIWA anticipates regional WA's current growth cycle will continue through the remainder of 2021 and into 2022. Low stock levels are the driving force behind this growth, resulting in strong buyer demand which has put upwards pressure on house prices,” Mr Collins said.

Regional centre breakdown

More information

For more information about your regional centre, visit the regional WA page.