Houses selling twice as fast as a year ago

Houses in Perth sold in a median of eight days in October, a new record and nearly twice as fast as the 15 days recorded in October 2022.

REIWA CEO Cath Hart said the speed of sales reflected the incredible demand for established homes.

“It’s a perfect storm, with strong population growth coming up against the challenges in the rental market and the ongoing constraints of building,” she said.

“As a result, many people are choosing to buy rather build or try and find a rental.”

Ms Hart had some advice for buyers looking for a home in the current market.

“I’ve had people say that no sooner do they see the For Sale sign go up, then an Under Offer sticker goes on it, and they find it disheartening,” she said.

“It is a challenging time. If you are looking to buy you need to be prepared – ensure you have your finances organised so you can make an offer when you see a home you like; be patient – homes are still coming to the market in reasonable numbers, they’re just selling quickly, you will find one eventually; and be persistent – if you keep trying you will be successful.

“You also need to be incredibly proactive – sign up for alerts on www.reiwa.com so you are made aware of new listings as soon as they come online, and also register your interest with REIWA agents in the areas where you are looking to buy. They can contact you as soon as a suitable property becomes available, possibly before it officially hits the market.

“Finally, you may want to consider engaging the services of a REIWA buyer’s agent. They can do all the leg work for you and liaise with selling agents when properties that meet your needs become available.”

According to www.reiwa.com data, the fastest selling suburbs in October were Cooloongup and Seville Grove (three days), Huntingdale (four days); and Greenfields, Coodanup, Gosnells, Kelmscott, Mandurah, Orelia and Tapping (five days).

“Many of these suburbs have been on the fastest selling list several times in the past six months,” Ms Hart said.

“Cooloongup and Greenfields have made six appearances, while Seville Grove has made four. While not on this month’s list, Armadale has also appeared four times since May.

“Despite recent price growth, these areas remain very affordable, which adds to their appeal.”

Perth sales market

The Perth median house price rose to a new high of $575,000 in October, an increase of 0.9 per cent from September and 6.5 per cent from October 2022.

The median unit price remained stable at $400,000 but has recorded a decline of 1.7 per cent year-on-year.

“We certainly expect the median house price to increase further over the rest of the year,” Ms Hart said.

“And while the unit price has been steady for some time, the underlying data suggests it will show an increase in coming months.”

According to www.reiwa.com data the suburbs that saw the most growth in October were Mosman Park (up 3.8 per cent to $1,910,000), South Perth (up 2.7 per cent to $1,875,000), Manning (up 2.7 per cent to $945,000), Spearwood (up 2.7 per cent to $575,000) and Cooloongup (up 2.5 per cent to $458,500).

Carramar, Claremont, Hammond Park, Caversham and Byford also recorded moderate growth.

CoreLogic Home Value Index

Perth was the strongest performing capital city in October, according to CoreLogic’s Home Value Index*. Perth recorded 1.6 per cent growth over the month, with Brisbane the next best performer at 1.4 per cent.

Perth also outperformed the other capitals on an annual basis, with 10.8 per cent growth, followed by Sydney at 9 per cent.

Despite the strong growth, Perth was the second most affordable capital city by dwelling value, with Darwin the most affordable. 

Listings for sale

There were 5,011 listings on www.reiwa.com at the end of October, a 2.7 per cent increase on the 30-year low recorded in September, but 37.4 per cent lower than the same time last year.

“The significant difference between now and 12 months ago is the speed of sales,” Ms Hart said.

“There were 7,999 properties for sale at the end of October 2022, but the median time on market was 15 days.

“Homes have been selling extremely quickly for most of this year and this is keeping the number of properties for sale on www.reiwa.com low.

“Sales are continuing to outpace new listings. For example, new listings in the past four weeks are only 4.5 per cent lower than the same period last year, but the number of sales reported by our members is 10.8 per cent higher.

“As a result, the number of homes currently on the market remains low.”

Perth rental market

Perth’s median dwelling rent price rose to a new record of $590 per week in October. This was a 1.7 per cent increase on September and 18 per cent higher than the same time last year.

The median weekly rents for houses and units were stable at $600 and $550 per week respectively.

According to www.reiwa.com, the suburbs that saw the most growth in their median rent price in October were North Perth (up 45 per cent to $675 per week), Claremont (up 44 per cent to $790), Leederville (up 39 per cent to $860), Kardinya (up 30 per cent to $700), and Floreat (up 22 per cent to $850).

Listings for rent

There were 1,719 properties available for rent on www.reiwa.com at the end of October, a 2.3 per cent increase on September and unchanged from October 2022.

Ms Hart said listings were likely to remain low for the remainder of the year.

“Supply remains the greatest challenge facing the market, particularly the rental market,” she said.

“We welcomed recent government announcements addressing impediments to supply, such as the changes to planning approvals that aim to get homes out of the ground quicker, and the introduction of a dedicated Housing Supply Unit that will hopefully prevent a repeat of current circumstances in the future.

“But, while it’s important to increase supply, we also need a legislative environment that supports investment. Our market relies heavily on investors, they supply about 85 per cent of properties in the private rental market. They can easily put their money elsewhere – and they will. We saw the negative effects of legislation changes after the COVID moratorium was lifted. Investors voted with their feet and left the market in droves.

“While the WA Government has ruled out rent caps and rent freezes, investors are tentatively waiting on the outcomes of the Residential Tenancies Act reforms.”

Median leasing times

It took a median of 14 days to lease a rental during October, unchanged from September and a year ago.

www.reiwa.com data showed the suburbs recording the fastest median leasing times were Kardinya, Balcatta, Balga, and Duncraig (eight days); Seville Grove, Banksia Grove, Innaloo, and Thornlie (nine days); Scarborough (10 days) and Cannington (11 days).

* CoreLogic have recently changed their modelling.