Perth properties selling at lightning pace

Properties in Perth are being snapped up at the fastest rate since 2006

Perth properties selling at lightning pace

Perth properties are selling at the fastest rate since 2006, according to new data from the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia.

REIWA president Damian Collins said the residential sales market has seen marked improvement in the latter half of the year, creating prime conditions for sellers.

“The demand for quality stock is evident, with properties selling at the same speed as they did 14 years ago, when Perth was in a property boom,” Collins said. “In addition, the level of discounting has reduced to 32% of all transactions, compared to 49% in November 2019.

“With sales listings down 1.3% in November compared to the previous month and 28.7% lower than November 2019, it’s clear that if you are looking to sell there hasn’t been a better time for many years,” Collins said.

Read more: More Perth first-home buyers set to enter the market

Dwelling values increased 1.1% in November, making it the fourth consecutive month of growth and the largest increase over that time, according to the latest data from CoreLogic.

“Breaking it down at the suburb level, reiwa.com shows 50% of suburbs experienced an increase in median sale price and 29% saw a stabilised median in November,” Collins said. “Kelmscott saw the biggest increase to its median in November with a 7% increase to $353,000, which was followed by Hillarys (up 6.8%), Rockingham (up 4.1%), Marangaroo (up 3.8%) and Armadale (up 3.6%).”

Rental listings rose 3.7% month over month in November, according to REIWA. However, levels are still 52% lower than November 2019. With only 2,889 properties for lease listed on reiwa.com, November was the third consecutive month that stock levels were under 3,000, Collins said.

“Due to limited rental stock and the vacancy rate sitting at 0.95%, rents have continued to increase in November, with the median weekly rent now sitting at $390 per week,” he said. “Freemantle and Mandurah were the top-performing suburbs by median weekly rent in November with a 3.7% increase. This was closely followed by Huntingdale (up 3.4%), Subiaco (up 3%) and Nollamara (up 2.9%).”

Collins said that investor interest is on the increase due to the rental shortage, which should help boost stock levels and keep rent increases reasonable.

“However, it’s crucial the rental moratorium ends as promised in March 2021,” he said.