Listings dropped to record lows and prices rose in September

Strong demand for homes saw listings for sale drop below 5,000 at the end of September, the lowest level in 30 years.

REIWA CEO Cath Hart said the month saw a number of new records.

“The median house price rose to $570,000 in September, which is 5.6 per cent higher than a year ago and 4.6 per cent higher than the previous record set in 2014-15,” she said.

“The strength of demand was highlighted in the median time to sell a property, which dropped to a record low of nine days for the month.

“This saw the number of listings on www.reiwa.com fall to 4,931 at the end of the month. This is 4.9 per cent lower than the final figures for August and 39.5 per cent lower than 12 months ago.”

While the median house price rose, the median unit price remained stable at $400,000. It was 2.4 per cent lower than September 2022 and 2.9 per cent below the previous high of $412,000 set in 2021-22.

According to www.reiwa.com, the top performing suburbs for house price growth in September were Halls Head (up 3.1 per cent to $570,000), Embleton (up 2.7 per cent to $620,000), Hillarys (up 2.5 per cent to $1,080,000), East Fremantle (up 2.5 per cent to $1,672,500), and Bassendean (up 2.1 per cent to $612,500).

Westminster, Balcatta, Rivervale, Golden Bay and Doubleview were also among the top performers. They all recorded growth over 1.4 per cent.

Time on market

www.reiwa.com data showed the fastest selling suburbs for houses in September were Dudley Park and Seville Grove (three days); Coodanup, Cooloongup and Secret Harbour (four days); and Armadale, Tapping, Butler, Caversham and Greenfields (five days).

“It’s interesting to see that, with the exception of Tapping, these suburbs have a median house price below the Perth median,” Ms Hart said.

“It suggests affordability is important and buyers are acting quickly when they see value.

“These suburbs also offer rental yields between 5 and 7 per cent, which make them very attractive to investors.”

CoreLogic home value index

According to the CoreLogic Home Value Index, Perth was among the top three performers for September, recording 1.3 per cent growth over the month. Adelaide recorded the highest increase in dwelling values, up 1.7 per cent, while Brisbane also recorded 1.3 per cent.

Perth was the strongest performing capital city in the year to September with dwelling values rising 8.8 per cent. The next best performer was Sydney with 7.3 per cent growth.

Perth rental market

Perth’s median rent prices remained at record highs in September.

The median weekly dwelling rent was $580 per week, unchanged from the final figure for August and 17.2 per cent higher than a year ago.

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

“Stability is very welcome, but market conditions suggest more increases are likely in the coming months,” Ms Hart said.

“WA is experiencing strong demand and there is a limited supply of rentals available. The significant imbalance between supply and demand is putting pressure on prices and this is unlikely to change in the near future.”

According to www.reiwa.com, the suburbs that saw the most growth in their median rent price in September were Highgate (up 30 per cent to $665 per week), Inglewood (up 26 per cent to $630), Greenwood (up 21 per cent to $720), Wembley (up 20 per cent to $540), and Bentley (up 19 per cent to $540).

Listings for rent

There were 1,653 properties available for rent on www.reiwa.com at the end of September, a slight improvement on August, but 22.2 per cent lower than three months ago and 4.1 per cent lower than September 2022.

“Based on previous trends, we can expect listings to remain low for the remainder of the year,” Ms Hart said.

Median leasing times

It took a median of 14 days to lease a rental during September, one day faster than August.

www.reiwa.com data showed the suburbs recording the fastest median leasing times were Byford and Melville (eight days), Thornlie, Hamilton Hill, Nedlands, Padbury and Willetton (nine days); and Clarkson, Doubleview and Yanchep (10 days).

Ms Hart said while WA was one of the more affordable places in the country for both home buyers and renters, rising interest rates and rents had placed significant financial stress on households. 

“The Reserve Bank of Australia’s decision to leave interest rates on hold will be welcomed by mortgage holders, but repayments on the average mortgage in WA have increased 48 per cent since rates started rising, meanwhile the median dwelling rent has increased 23 per cent.

“Supply is a significant issue facing the market and impacting affordability.

“We need to maintain a strong level of new home building starts and ensure we have a legislative environment that encourages investment to alleviate the gap between supply and demand that is driving house and rent prices to new records.”