The profitable Perth suburb where sellers pocketed a whopping $1 million

Perth property sellers are walking away from property sales with the highest profits in more than a decade with the suburb of Rossmoyne recording a median profit exceeding $1 million.

Profit making sales from houses across Australia have reached their highest since 2008, with 96 per cent reselling for a profit in the last financial year, Domain’s Profit and Loss report shows.

Just four per cent of houses across Australia failed to make a profit in the 12 months to June.

Perth homeowners are walking away with a median of $231,000 in profits from house resales, with 97.1 per cent of houses up for resale making a profit in the last financial year.

More than 90 per cent of units made a profit with the median sum $100,000.

Rossmoyne is top of the leaderboard for profit, recording a median profit of $1 million, a whopping gain of 288 per cent.

It was followed by City Beach (gain of $865,605 or 161 per cent), Willetton (gain of $608,000 or 130 per cent) and Bull Creek (gain of $680,000 or 120 per cent).

More than half of the 300 odd suburbs in the Perth metropolitan area recorded no loss making sales including the coastal suburb of Alkimos, Beaconsfield, Jane Brook and Victoria Park.

The median loss on a house sale was $55,000 and the median loss on a unit sale was $32,500. Northbridge, East Perth, Cockburn Central and Perth recorded the most loss making sales with more than half of sellers posting a loss.

Nationally, houses in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne provide the greatest dollar return – $655,000, $435,000 and $397,000 respectively.

Domain chief of economics and research Nicola Powell said the record number of homes reselling for a profit reflected the longevity of homeowners.

“That tells us that the vast majority of homeowners have owned their property for a number of years, and probably many of them have bought prior to that 2020 upswing in price where we saw prices rise nationally,” she said.

Powell said people are choosing to stay in their homes for longer, which has also contributed to a reduction in short-term sales across the nation.

Strategic Property Group managing director Trent Fleskens said there was a high correlation between profit made and the value of the suburb coupled with the time of ownership.

“Suburbs like Rossmoyne and City Beach are already high-value suburbs where a 10 per cent gain means a six-figure profit,” he said.

“Escalate this over a couple of decades of owning the family home and it starts to make sense how these homeowners are walking away with seven-figure tax-free proceeds from their sales.”

Across the state the south-west regional centres outpaced all other regional property markets in the June 2024 quarter, according to new data from REIWA.

Busselton led the way with its median house sale price rising 6 per cent to $795,000, up from $750,000 in the March quarter.

It was followed by Bunbury, which saw a 5.5 per cent increase in its median house sale price to $517,000.

REIWA President Joe White said the battle for top position between Busselton and Bunbury had been ongoing since the September 2023 quarter.

White said while market activity tended to slow during the winter months, segments of the market remained active.

“Our members in Busselton and Bunbury report properties priced between $600,000 and $800,000 saw the most activity over the quarter, with investors and first-home buyers still driving activity in this segment of the market,” he said.

“Houses in this price bracket continue to sell quickly, as buyers look for value for money.”

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.