Perth house prices, rents down in August

Perth 7 September 2015: New data out today from the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia show that Perth’s median house price and median rent fell in the three months to August.

HOUSE PRICES

The reiwa.com figures report that Perth’s median house price dropped 1.8 per cent, or $10,000, over the last three months to $540,000.

REIWA president David Airey said the number of properties on the market was up by 2 per cent to 13,921 in the month of August, but that in general listings were showing signs of levelling out at around 14,000 properties after a steep climb in recent months.

“There are 31 per cent more properties on the market than the same time last year. This is putting some downward pressure on prices as sellers adjust to changing market conditions,” Mr Airey said.
 
The reiwa.com data was showing that the areas experiencing the biggest jump in properties on the market during the three months to August included the City of Swan, up 158, and the Town of Kwinana, up 56.

Areas where listings fell included the City of Vincent and the southeast section of the City of Stirling, down 47 properties overall, Kalamunda down 26 and the northern part of Joondalup, down 15. 

“In a good sign for turnover, however, sales were up by 1 per cent in this period to 1,838 transactions, a dip of 12 per cent in the month of August itself but up by a healthy 6 per cent on the same time last year,” Mr Airey said. 

Stronger turnover was reported through northern Joondalup with 101 sales and Fremantle with 89. By contrast, sales dropped markedly in the South Perth and Victoria Park areas, along with the western suburbs.

The top five areas for sales for August included Butler, Bayswater, Baldivis, Ellenbrook and Canning Vale.   

RENTS     

Perth rents came down again, this time by $10 to an overall market median of $410 per week.

The reiwa.com data show that typically this represents around $420 per week for a house and $395 per week for a unit, apartment or villa.   

“This means that metropolitan rents have now dropped by more than 13 per cent, or around $60 per week, from 18 months ago and reflects the downturn in the mining-construction sector and resulting slowdown in the state’s rate of population growth,” Mr Airey said.

The most expensive median rental price for houses was found in the western suburbs at $725 per week, while the most affordable houses were in Kwinana with a median of $380 per week.

Kwinana also has the most affordable units and villas at $275 per week, while the more expensive median for this stock was found in the southern part of Joondalup at $505 per week.

REIWA’s metropolitan data is showing a vacancy rate of just over 5 per cent, with 8,504 rentals looking for tenants. This was down marginally in August but remains 40 per cent higher than the same period last year.