State of Markets – WA December 2011

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Fast Figures

• $495,000 – median house price, Broome
• $470,000 – median house price, Perth

Rents on the rise in Perth
Investors seeking a property with strong rental yields should turn their attention to Perth.

Renters have flooded the Perth market, sending available stock plummeting by 20 per cent in the third quarter of this year, the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia (REIWA) said.

“With house sales in Perth rising by just one per cent for the September quarter and sales of units, apartments, villas and townhouses falling by seven per cent, households are looking to rent rather than buy in these uncertain times,” said REIWA President David Airey.

The preliminary vacancy rate fell from 3.4 per cent in the June quarter to 2.8 per cent at the end of the September quarter.

“Accompanying this tightening of the vacancy rate has been a $15 per week, or four per cent lift in the overall median rent for Perth during the September quarter,” Mr Airey said.

Interestingly, the rent increase was not uniform across the metropolitan area, although this could be attributed to the mix of property being leased, Mr Airey said.

Prices tipped to soar in the capital
Not to be outdone by Sydney, Perth’s residential property prices are tipped to soar, with hungry investors looking to cash in.

According to lender’s mortgage insurance provider QBE LMI, Perth is expected to see prices grow by 19 per cent.

“Price growth [in Australia] is forecast to be strongest over the next three years in Perth and Sydney,” QBE LMI chief executive Ian Graham said.

“The substantial level of investment in mining and resource capacity in Western Australia will drive solid income and population growth, creating robust demand for housing in Perth.”

Brisbane and Darwin are also expected to record strong growth in the three years to June 2014, with economists predicting 16 and 17 per cent growth respectively.