This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
WHILE Perth’s property market saw a drop in settled sales of 3.9% over the 2023-24 financial year, the city’s top performing suburb saw a whopping 40.9% increase in its median house sale price.
According to the latest data in from REIWA, there were 54,307 preliminary settled sales of house, units and land over the year, as active listings remained low.
“People are still selling, but homes are being snapped up in record timeframes so the number of properties advertised at any time appears low,” said Cath Hart, CEO at REIWA.
“While volumes were slightly down, the total value of property transactions was nearly $40 billion for the year which reflects the sustained price increases we’ve seen in the WA market,”
At $39,564,740,679, the preliminary total value of sales was up 13.2% over the year.
The median house sale price at a new record of $665,000 for the year to June 2024, which is up 18.8% on the end of the last financial year.
While the median unit sale price was up to 11.3% to $445,000, which is $5,000 under the previous 2014 record of $450,000.
The eastern suburb of Viveash was the top performing suburb for house price growth over the year, with a 40.9% increase to $620,000.
“Affordability remains a focus for buyers and this is reflected in the make up of the Top 10 suburbs for house price growth. The majority have a median sale price below Perth’s median and only two have a median house sale price over $1million,” added Hart.
“It indicates strong demand for suburbs in more affordable price brackets. Demand is also reflected in their selling times. The more affordable suburbs on the list have a median time on market that is nearly half that of the suburbs with a median over $1 million.”
For the unit market, the beach-side suburb of Cottlesloe outpaced other markets, with a 50.9% boost to the median sale price to $1.2 million.
“While the unit market was slower to respond to market conditions over most of 2023, in 2024 we have seen demand and price growth accelerate,” said Hart.
“The overall demand for property, and particularly the strong motivation to exit the challenging rental market, has seen demand for units increase. Units are generally more affordable than houses, which helps people put a foot on the property ladder in a rising market. This is helping drive price growth in the unit market.”
The year also saw a new monthly record for days spent on the market, with October and November at just eight days.
While the fastest selling suburb for houses over the year was Cooloongup, with houses selling in a median of five days.
With units setting a new median time on the market, spending just nine days in February.
Mount Hawthorn was fastest selling suburb for units, at a median of just six days on the market in 2023-24.
“Affordability also came to the fore in the fastest selling list, with all ten suburbs recording a median house sale price below $550,000. While there is clearly the appetite for, and ability to, buy property in Perth, price is important and buyers continue to act quickly when they see value,” added Hart.
“Houses sold in a median of less than a week for all the suburbs on the list. High demand also saw these suburbs record strong price growth.”
