Armadale leads charge as Perth property prices hit fresh high

Perth property prices continue to lead the nation, lifting 1.8 per cent over February to reach a new median high of $687,004, according to new data released on Friday.

The CoreLogic Home Value Index – covering both houses and units – showed all capital cities and rest-of-state regions recorded a rise in values over the month, except Hobart, where the market fell by 0.3 per cent.

Perth house prices continue to lead the nation. Credit: Moment RF

A consistently high rate of capital growth has been recorded across the capitals month-on-month, with Adelaide recording the second-strongest growth at 1.1 per cent followed by Brisbane (0.9 per cent), Canberra (0.7 per cent) and Sydney (0.5 per cent).

CoreLogic’s research director Tim Lawless said Perth continued to stand out with a substantially higher rate of growth compared to any other region.

He said the ongoing rise in housing values reflected a persistent imbalance between supply and demand, which varied in magnitude across the capitals.

“The Perth market is still extraordinarily strong, we’re not seeing any signs of a slowdown,” he said.

“In fact that 1.8 per cent rise we saw over the month is equal to the strongest monthly growth rate we saw from the middle of last year.”

The biggest price rises over the past year have been in affordable suburbs on Perth’s urban fringe, led by Armadale (up 28.6 per cent over the year to a median of $602,585) followed by Rockingham (up 25.1 per cent to $632,447), Gosnells (up 25.1 per cent to $605,173) and Kwinana (up 22.5 per cent to $538,254).

Lawless said strong overseas and interstate migration was fuelling housing demand in the west, and it would be years before the supply/demand imbalance stabilised.

“Even though overseas migration looks to be falling now since peaking at the March quarter, interstate migration looks to have held way above average levels,” he said.

“If you look at how many homes are being built, or at least the construction pipeline, it is still extremely low.

“It’s fair to say that in the face of these strong demand pressures we’re simply not seeing an adequate supply response.”

Strategic Property Group managing director Trent Fleskens said despite WA enjoying the economic benefits of a globally leading economy, there was no capacity to supply sufficient housing to the state’s current population, let alone the population that continues to flood into WA.

“The data is clear, demand is higher than it has ever been, supply is lower than it’s ever been per capita, and the pipeline capacity to solve this issue is akin to having the people to build a life raft to survive a tsumani,” he said.

Fleskens said if the RBA dropped interest rates pit would likely propel Perth property prices even higher.

In January, JW Residential director Nikki de Rijcke sold 19 properties worth more than $13 million.

She said there were plenty of homeowners who wanted to sell, but they were struggling to find their next home.

“Properties are flying off the shelves faster than ever, driving prices upward,” she said.

“Buyers need to make decisions faster than ever and be ready to go when the property they want comes up.“

REIWA chief executive Cath Hart expected strong growth for the Perth property market in 2024 based on current conditions.

“The established homes market is being driven by strong population growth, a strong economy and low building commencements and completions,” she said.

“The Perth market has weathered the rising interest rate climate extremely well, demand remains high, and properties are selling extremely quickly.

“If market and economic conditions remain the same, and rates fall, we can expect demand to increase and prices to rise further.”

According to REIWA data, the fastest selling suburbs in February were Parmelia, Camillo, Cooloongup, Craigie and Kardinya (four days); and Coolbellup, Forrestfield, Golden Bay, Heathridge and Meadow Springs (five days).

Active listings rose slightly in February, settling at 3,991 at the end of the month. This was 5.1 per cent higher than January but remained 43.6 per cent lower than a year ago.

Lawless, said similar to the trend in housing values, Perth stood out among the capital cities with a substantially faster rate of rental growth that was showing little evidence of slowing down.

“The same underlying factors that are rapidly pushing home values higher across Perth are at play in the rental sector, with demand substantially outweighing supply, keeping rental growth well above average levels,” he said.

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