Phil's Property Corner - Perth property at it's most affordable in 20 years

February 20, 2019 by Rebecca Crommelin

This month on our blog, Phil Bertram, the owner of Candour Property Group, delivers another great instalment of Phil's Property Corner. In this latest update, Phil reviews the recent Perth property & economy figures, as well as some great news for homebuyers in Perth. Keep scrolling to find out more..

Perth’s median sale price fell 1% for the month of January to $505,000, with sales activity up 6.4% and listings for sale decreasing by 3.2%. You can find REIWA’s Perth market update video here.

In the rental space, listing activity increased 46% from December (not unexpected as December is historically a fairly quiet month for relocating), whilst listings for rent reduced by 2% to 6,732. The rental vacancy rate reduced again, down to 2.8%. The median rental remains stable at $350 per week, however we are receiving more and more reports from real estate agents reporting multiple rental offers on properties. In some cases with rental offers being submitted for more than the asking price. It’s been some time since Perth has seen this sort of activity.

Housing Industry Association (HIA) has just released their quarterly affordability report for locations around Australia and this shows Perth as the most affordable that it has been in 20 years. It also shows that Perth is the most affordable city in Australia. Even after recent price reductions in Sydney it still costs an average wage earner over half their monthly income to pay the home loan on a median-priced dwelling. Given recent wage growth in Perth we have improved by 5.7% over the last year, with now only 26.5% of an average wage earner’s income needed to pay the mortgage on a median-priced dwelling. The West Australian has a great article on this here.

The latest ‘State of the States’ report was released in late January and showed the WA economy returning some very solid numbers, recording an annual growth rate of 6.7% in the three months to September 30, second only to Tasmania. Since these results we’ve seen iron ore prices increase significantly after a major incident in Brazil, this too will significantly increase royalties paid to WA by the big miners. Equipment spending in WA is growing at 17.5% and WA’s population growth is the fastest it has been in three years, growing now at 0.84% and trending upwards. This is also coupled with wages on the improve and the overall employment improving. This all paints the picture of a state very much on the rebound. The West Australian has an article outlining all of this here.

If you’d like to explore how you can take advantage of the most affordable market we’ve had in Perth for 20 years, we provide a service that assists you in researching any potential property decision you’re considering. We measure your options and assess how you can best benefit from current market conditions, be it buying a house to live in or as an investment.

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 to chat to Phil, you can email him directly with your name and contact number on phil@candourproperty.com.au and he’ll be in touch.