From the REIWA web-site
Perth market recovers in June: trade-up buyers return; rents soften
10 July 2009
Preliminary data released today by the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia show that Perth’s median sale price for homes grew by $15,000, or around 3.5 per cent, in the June quarter.
This growth rate brings Perth’s median house price to around $445,000, on the revised median of $430,000 for March.
REIWA President Rob Druitt said the growth trend was being helped by a return to the market of the trade-up buyers.
“Much of the recovery in the median house price over the last six months can be attributed to increasing trade-up activity, and this is reflected in the distribution of sales tending towards more expensive properties,” Mr Druitt said.
Mr Druitt said it was worth noting that Perth’s median house price had recovered virtually all of its fall from the second half of 2008, with the current median price being just under the figure of $448,000 from June last year.
“It may well be the case that the preliminary median of $445,000 is exceeded once all settled sales data is received over the next few months,” Mr Druitt said.
The overall number of properties on the market dropped to 12,800 at the end of June, including 2,100 blocks of land. This figure is down 15 per cent on the end of March and 26 per cent below the end of June last year.
“At the current rate of depletion, properties for sale, coupled with the expected surge of first home buyers before the Commonwealth boost ends on 30 September, should see the market move back into a state of equilibrium between supply and demand during the September quarter,” Mr Druitt said.
The average number of selling days for the metropolitan area fell by 7 days in the June quarter, down to 70. There were notable declines in selling days in a number of areas, including Belmont (down 20 to 57 days), Stirling East (down 18 to 58 days), and the north-east area of Wanneroo (down 16 days to 54 days).
RENTS
The availability of rental properties has increased, with the vacancy rate growing to 3.6 per cent in the quarter.
This has had the effect of lowering the median rental payments for houses by around $10, to a median of $360 per week. However, rents for units and apartments remained unchanged at a median of $350 per week
“The increase in the vacancy rate is significant, having grown 0.7 per cent on March to a level that is now higher than usual for Perth, and it’s possible this vacancy rate will increase further during the September quarter as more renters become first home buyers and as some of the retrenched mine workers move back east,” Mr Druitt said.