Perth houses are selling almost twice as fast as they were a year ago, with buyers snapping them up in a median of just eight days in October.
According to reiwa.com data, the fastest selling suburbs in October were Cooloongup and Seville Grove, where houses sold in a median of only three days.
REIWA Chief Executive Officer Cath Hart said the speed of sales reflected the incredible demand for established homes.
“It’s a perfect storm, with strong population growth coming up against the challenges in the rental market and the ongoing constraints of building,” she said.
“As a result, many people are choosing to buy rather than build or try and find a rental.”
Other suburbs buyers were quick to purchase properties in were Huntingdale (four days); and Greenfields, Coodanup, Gosnells, Kelmscott, Mandurah, Orelia and Tapping (five days).
“Many of these suburbs have been on the fastest selling list several times in the past six months,” Ms Hart said.
“Cooloongup and Greenfields have made six appearances, while Seville Grove has made four. While not on this month’s list, Armadale has also appeared four times since May.
“Despite recent price growth, these areas remain very affordable, which adds to their appeal.”
Ms Hart said the tightness and speed at which the market was operating was upsetting for buyers who were frequently missing out on homes.
“I’ve had people say that no sooner do they see the For Sale sign go up, then an Under Offer sticker goes on it, and they find it disheartening,” she said.
“It is a challenging time. If you are looking to buy you need to be prepared – ensure you have your finances organised so you can make an offer when you see a home you like; be patient – homes are still coming to the market in reasonable numbers, they’re just selling quickly, you will find one eventually; and be persistent – if you keep trying you will be successful.
As a result of such strong competition, the Perth median house price also jumped to a new high of $575,000 last month, up 0.9 per cent in September and 6.5 per cent on a year ago.
The median unit price remained stable at $400,000 but has recorded a decline of 1.7 per cent year-on-year.
“We certainly expect the median house price to increase further over the rest of the year,” Ms Hart said.
“And while the unit price has been steady for some time, the underlying data suggests it will show an increase in coming months.”
Mosman park experienced the most price growth in October, up 3.8 per cent to a median of $1.91 million, while South Perth climbed 2.7 per cent to $1.875 million.
Manning is inching closer to the million dollar mark, up 2.7 per cent last month to a median price of $945,000.
Listings on reiwa.com rose 2.7 per cent in October to hit 5011 at the end of the month.
While that’s up on the 30-year low recorded in September, it’s still 37.4 per cent down on the same time in 2022.
“The significant difference between now and 12 months ago is the speed of sales,” Ms Hart said.
“There were 7999 properties for sale at the end of October 2022, but the median time on market was 15 days.
“Homes have been selling extremely quickly for most of this year and this is keeping the number of properties for sale on reiwa.com low.
“Sales are continuing to outpace new listings. For example, new listings in the past four weeks are only 4.5 per cent lower than the same period last year, but the number of sales reported by our members is 10.8 per cent higher.
“As a result, the number of homes currently on the market remains low.”
