Phil's Property Corner - New Year, New Perspective

January 23, 2019 by Rebecca Crommelin

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! We’re looking forward to what is shaping up to be a fascinating 2019 with plenty of opportunity.

The median sale price for Perth was steady in December 2018, finishing out the year on $510,000. Instead of a video for December, they wrote an article which you can find here. 

Rental listings fell a further 6% in December, dropping to 6,865 which is a 27% drop from December 2017. The rental vacancy rate is now down to 2.9% with some solid competition starting in some areas between potential tenants keen to secure a property. This bodes well for an increase in the median rental amount over the coming months.

The latest Buy-Rent index compiled by Curtin University and REIWA has just been released, measuring whether it is financially advantageous to buy rather than rent, and it indicates that this year could be the best time to buy a home in five years. The West Australian goes into more detail in this article.

The beginning of a new year is always a good time to reflect on what the previous year taught us and to view the year ahead with a new perspective. One thing we often noticed in 2018 is that news articles written on property markets rarely singled out specific locations but instead spoke about the ‘Australian’ property market. Of course, there is no such thing as an Australian property market, instead there are different states with completely different economic drivers, and many cities and suburbs within those states each operating with their own specific dynamics.

We have seen the Sydney and Melbourne property markets rise steeply in recent years past, only to now see them start to reverse those trends. When reading news articles however, you would be forgiven for believing that every property market in Australia is in freefall. However, upon closer inspection there are a number of states (including WA) that have been fairly steady over the past number of months and some areas that are in fact primed for growth. If you’d like to read some expert opinions from a variety of different fields regarding the Perth property market’s year ahead - you can find a very interesting article here.

Of course not every location has equal potential, it’s very important to understand what dynamics are driving capital growth (or lack thereof) before making a decision to purchase. Candour works with you to research the pro’s and con’s of your preferred location, giving you the relevant data so that you can make informed decisions. If you are looking to invest or build, we can ensure you get maximum value for money.

If you’d like to know more the next step is to chat with Phil Bertram. There is no obligation to proceed any further than you’re comfortable with and he doesn’t charge for his time. All strategies are implemented in tandem with your Mortgage Choice Mortgage Broker.

To arrange for him to call you please email him with your name and contact number on phil@candourproperty.com.au and he’ll be in touch.