Singular house paints upsetting picture of Perth’s property crisis

A property disaster is seemingly getting worse by the day in an Australian capital city.

While housing prices skyrocket and desperate Australians are pushed to the financial brink, thousands of homes across the country are sitting empty.

The brutal paradox is especially obvious in the world’s most isolated city Perth, where there is desperate demand on one side, and wasted supply on the other.

Large swathes of Perth properties are gathering dust – uninhabited and unaffordable for the average local.

About 1400 public housing properties in Perth are sitting vacant while 19,000 people sit on a waitlist for access to one.

The problem isn’t just stark on paper; it’s obvious in almost every pocket of the city.

All over Perth, vacant housing is impossible to ignore, from boarded-up terraces, giant abandoned warehouses and commercial blocks covered in graffiti that haven’t been touched in years.

This is one of thousands of properties sitting vacant in Perth. Picture: YouTube/BrookoMoves

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A complex owned by a wealthy businessman was one example of the depressing reality captured recently in a Brooko Moves YouTube video.

It was estimated to be available for lease for about $15,000 a month, however according to a neighbour, it had been sitting vacant for years and the owner wasn’t remotely concerned.

Whether these types of properties are held by investors looking for a tax break, are unfinished or caught up in bureaucratic red tape, the result is the same: there are people with nowhere to live while homes sit empty.

Great Australian Dream slips away

The Perth property market has also experienced one of the biggest jumps in prices in the country, going up a whopping 19 per cent in the last 12 months, with the median price now $775,000.

The capital city was once an affordable location where first homebuyers could manage entering the property market and still living comfortably.

Buyers could easily snap up a house for between $400,000 and $600,00 between 2000 and 2021 – prices were relatively low and interest rates hadn’t surged yet.

But between 2022 and 2024, the median price surged from $520,000 to $660,000 and has continued to climb.

In May 2025, a homebuyer can count on one hand the volume of houses available for $400,000 and expect them to be either demountable shacks in a retirement village or caravan park.

The latest round of government incentives for first homebuyers won’t be helpful for most people either.

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Thousands across Perth are homeless while thousands of houses sit vacant. Picture: YouTube/BrookoMoves

For first homebuyers, wanting to utilise the latest 5 per cent deposit scheme – applicable to properties worth up to $850,000 – repayments would be more than $1200 a week.

Given wages have not risen in line with inflation or property prices, this option would be unaffordable for most. The median salary in Perth is about $150,000, but that’s largely influenced by Fly In, Fly Out (FIFO) workers earning big money on mine sites up north.

An alternative is to take up the scheme in regional parts of the state, where the cap on property prices was recently lifted from $400,000 to $600,000.

The main issues being that even regionally, that price doesn’t guarantee you an attractive home, and buying there would come at the cost of lengthy commutes for city-based employment and disconnection from family and social networks.

It’s a bitter pill to swallow for aspiring homeowners, many who feel they’ve done everything right, only to be locked out.

Still, with the potential for further interest rate cuts on the horizon, there’s cautious optimism that the tide could eventually turn.

Barefoot Investor weighs in

Meanwhile, Barefoot investor Scott Pape said that while the Tuesday’s rate cut would help those trying to pay off their mortgage, it would also see more of the “wrong people” get into the housing market.

“If I was a young person right now I would be pretty pissed off,” Pape told news.com.au.

“Every time a young person gets close, it just keeps getting more expensive.”

Pape also slammed the Albanese government’s five per cent deposit scheme – which will come in from January 1 next year – saying it would do “a lot of damage”.

“It’s stupid, totally stupid,” Mr Pape said.

“People shouldn’t be buying a home in one of the most expensive cities in the world if they can’t afford it.

“I don’t understand how a responsible government can stand by and say this is a good thing.”

Originally published as Singular house paints upsetting picture of Perth’s property crisis