Latest WA real estate figures show jump in homes for sale in Perth
LATEST WA real estate figures show the number of homes for sale in Perth is up — and most sellers are dropping prices.
THE number of homes for sale in WA has jumped, with the Real Estate Institute of WA declaring Perth’s market was continuing to slow.
Just over half of sellers are dropping their asking price, with the average discount being 5.3 per cent.
December quarter figures show a stand-out feature was a 28 per cent spike in listings, taking the number of properties for sale to more than 13,000.
REIWA president David Airey said sales peaked two years ago and had been trending down since the March quarter of 2013.
“Turnover for the December quarter is about 14 per cent below the 15-year average,” he said.
“The distribution of sales within various price ranges was pretty steady, although there was greater activity in the more affordable $400,000-$450,000 range, as well as some increased sales with homes over $1 million,” Mr Airey said.
REIWA found the increase in sales with more expensive properties was more notable through the western suburbs, the coastal edge of the City of Stirling and the City of Melville.
“While most of the outer areas popular with first home buyers saw a decline in activity, Kwinana and Serpentine-Jarrahdale were exceptions. In fact, Kwinana saw a notional six per cent lift in median house price, probably due to the increased number of sales from brand new stock,” Mr Airey said.
Mr Airey said the overall results from the quarter pointed to steady prices but falling sales.
Key points from the quarter results:
Median price
Perth’s median house price lifted marginally in the December quarter last year, to settle at around $553,000, according to preliminary reiwa.com data.
“This is at variance to Landgate which is reporting a preliminary median of $540,000, but this is likely to be revised upwards with further settlements,” Mr Airey said.
“It looks like Perth will have experienced growth of around 4.6 per cent when compared to 2013,” he said.
Some of the more inner-city areas saw a drop in median price, including City of Belmont (down 7 per cent to $532,000), and South Perth/Victoria Park, down 4 per cent to $740,000.
Units and apartments
Mr Airey said that in the multi-residential market, early data from Landgate suggests that sales for units, apartments and villas remained weak.
“The December quarter indicates turnover to be almost 30 per cent under the long term average and highlights weak investor activity. Early Landate data suggests a median price for multi-residential dwellings of almost $444,000, up marginally on September,” he said.
Discounting
Mr Airey said just over half of all sellers were dropping their asking price, with the average discount being 5.3 per cent.
Rental market
In the metropolitan rental market, listings jumped by around 600 properties to a vacancy rate of 4.2 per cent in the quarter, putting downwards pressure on price.
“The overall median rent dropped $10 to $440 per week, and was typically $450 for a house and $420 for a unit,” Mr Airey said.
Regions
In the regions, Mr Airey said Busselton was the strong performer for both the quarter and the year, gaining 9.4 per cent growth during 2014. The Mandurah/Murray region along with Albany saw growth of just over one per cent in the quarter, while Northam did well with almost three per cent, he said.
“The downturn in the mining and construction sector continues to impact on the Pilbara, with Port Hedland dropping almost 3 per cent in the quarter and 14 per cent over the year to a median price of $773,500. Karratha has been hit much harder, down 15.4 per cent in the quarter and down by almost 30 per cent over the year to $499,000,” Mr Airey said.
Outlook
Mr Airey said the slowdown in the mining and resources sector was causing the population growth rate to fall.
“This situation is likely to affect the housing market for all of 2015, but we should have a clearer picture of trends by the end of the March quarter,” he said.