This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
WESTERN Australia’s regional centres had a prosperous quarter for growth, while all nine centres recorded surging price growth over the year.
According to REIWA, eight of out of WA’s nine regional centres saw an uptick in price growth over the March quarter of 2021, with only Esperance not tallying a boost in median house sale price, instead remaining stable at $390,000.
Meanwhile Busselton emerged as the best performer of the centres throughout the quarter, with a 5.5% increase in median house sale price to $580,000, which is a yearly positive change of 12.6%.
“The impressive price growth recorded in the Busselton regional centre during the quarter can largely be attributed to a shortage of available housing in the region,” said Joe White, deputy president of REIWA.
This was reinforced by the latest reiwa.com data which revealed listings in the Busselton area had dropped by over 21% in the quarter, a yearly decline of 41% compared to the March 2021 quarter.
“With less stock available, this has turned the heat up amongst buyers, forcing them to be more competitive when putting an offer on a property and pushing up the regional centre’s median price,” said White.
White also noted that demand has been driven up by interest in the top performing regional centre was also being observed from those living in Perth and those interstate.
“Now that there are direct flights available from Melbourne to the Busselton Margaret River Airport, it will be interesting to observe what impact this has on house prices in the region moving forward,” added White.
Besides Busselton, the quarter saw a 3.9% increase for Port Hedland, 3.6% for Geraldton, 3.1% for Kalgoorie, 2.7% for Karratha, 2.6% for Bunbury, 2.3% for Albany and 2.2% for Broome.
For annual price growth, Port Hedland recorded the greatest level of growth in median house sale price, with a 40.6% increase to $457,000.
“The Pilbara’s thriving commodity market has had a positive impact on house prices in Port Hedland, particularly as the COVID-19 pandemic has shifted the mindset of mining companies towards favouring a more localised workforce,” said White.
White also noted the impact of the Voluntary Buy-Back Scheme in Port Hedland’s West End, which provides eligible owners the chance to sell their property for a guaranteed premium to market price, as approved by the state government in June 2020.
“With more than 100 properties sold through the Voluntary Buy-Back Scheme in 2021 alone, this has had, and will continue to have, an impact on median house price growth in the Port Hedland regional centre,” added White.
Meanwhile Geraldton recorded a 21% yearly increase to $375,000, Broome was up 17.5% to $619,000, Albany 8.6% to $425,000, both Karratha and Bunbury recorded 8.2% increases to $513,750 and $395,000 respectively, Esperance was up 5.4% to $390,000, and finally Kalgoorlie saw a 3.5% increase to $326,020.
“REIWA anticipates that WA’s strong economy and forecast 1.2 per cent population growth, coupled with the state’s housing shortage, will maintain demand for properties in the regions and continue to drive price growth,” concluded White.
