INDUSTRY NEWSNEWSWAWestern Australia

Perth home values skyrocket as rental pressure eases

Perth property prices have recorded their biggest jump since May 2021, while pressure on rental markets is now starting to ease.

The latest data from CoreLogic shows Perth house values increased by 0.8 per cent in January taking the median price to $521,000.

The suburbs that saw the largest gains in January were Erskine (up 4.4 per cent to $450,000), Padbury (up 2.4 per cent to $615,000), Kalamunda (up 2.1 per cent to $725,000), Harrisdale (up two per cent to $549,000) and Wembley (up 1.7 per cent to $1.3 million); while Kinross, Falcon, Spearwood, Canning Vale and Landsdale also saw solid growth to start the year.

REIWA President Damian Collins said the result was strong given the time of year.

“Demand has been strong in the first month of the year,” Mr Collins said.

“If this continues, the Perth market is on track to achieve the 10 per cent price growth that REIWA forecast for 2022.”

Rental markets, which have been incredibly tight since mid-2020 have finally started to see an increase in listings. Total properties listed for rent rose by 2,345 in January which is a 25 per cent increase from December.

Mr Collins said while the rental crisis was easing, WA still needed more homes to be built.

“We saw rental listings reduce significantly at the end of December, which is not unusual for that time of year,” he said.

“Pleasingly, this reduction was temporary and listings for rent are now nine per cent higher than they were three months ago.

“We are still a long way off rectifying the rental shortage though. We need WA’s borders to open to increase investment in the state and attract people with trade skills here to help complete construction and free up rental stock.”

Perth’s median rent was $450 per week during January, which was unchanged over the month. It took 16 days to lease a rental during January, which was the same as December and two days faster than January 2021.

“Even though rents have increased over the last 12 months, we are not seeing unsustainable growth rates month-on-month,” Mr Collins said.

“Western Australia is still the most affordable place to rent in the country.”

The suburbs to record the biggest increase in median rent during January were Dianella (up $20 to $450 per week), Yanchep (up $18 to $438 per week), Ellenbrook (up $10 to $410 per week), Byford (up $10 to $440 per week) and Success (up $10 to $480 per week).

The number of properties listed for sale in Perth also increased, up by 8,245 which is 3 per cent higher than December, which Mr Collins said was typically a seasonal low.

“We’ve seen a slight increase in the number of properties for sale in Perth during January, as sellers who deferred their listings over the break come back to market ready to take advantage of Perth’s strong buyer appetite,” he said.

The time it takes to sell a property is also continuing to remain short at just 15 days, however, this was one day higher than December. The fastest-selling suburbs in January were Harrisdale (seven days), Tapping (seven days), Leeming (eight days), Cooloongup (nine days) and Craigie (nine days).

Mr Collins said the low days on market figure showed the high level of demand in the current market.

“Median selling times are still exceptionally low and have been for some time now,” he said.

“We’d normally expect this figure to be up around 30 to 40 days, so the fact it continues to hover around the two-week mark is a testament to how tight competition for properties is in Perth.”

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Rowan Crosby

Rowan Crosby is a senior journalist at Elite Agent specialising in finance and real estate.