Perth’s 10 most affordable suburbs: home ownership is well within reach, says REIWA

PROPERTY has never been more affordable is a familiar cry from the property industry.

REIWA president Hayden Groves said the dream of owning a home was well and truly within reach, with many affordable suburbs in Perth.

“Buyers on the east coast would be hard-pressed to find a home priced in the early to mid $200,000s, but you can buy them here,” he said.

REIWA data identified Medina as Perth’s cheapest suburb for the year to June 2017, with a median price of $250,000, followed by Armadale with a median price of $275,000.

While many of Perth’s cheapest suburbs are further afield, there are also many affordable areas close to the CBD.

“Buyers in Perth really are in an enviable position,” Mr Groves said.

“It’s unheard of in other parts of Australia, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne, for buyers to be able to purchase a house close to the city for less than $530,000.

“We are very lucky in WA that there are still great bargains to be had in and around the CBD.

“It won’t always be this way, so I advise buyers to act sooner rather than later if they are wanting to secure an affordable house close to the city.”

Just 10km north of Perth and with a median house price of $410,000, Nollamara topped REIWA’s list of the top 10 cheapest suburbs within 10km of the CBD for the year to June 2017.

“Nollamara is undergoing a lot of change, with infill redevelopment rejuvenating the well-established suburb and attracting a lot of first-home buyers to the area,” Mr Groves said.

Seven of the 10 suburbs are east of Perth. Mr Groves said the eastern corridor of Perth’s inner-city area held a lot of opportunity for home buyers.

“The median house price in suburbs like Cloverdale, Belmont and Redcliffe is hovering around the $450,000 mark, which is notably lower than the Perth median house price,” he said.

“First-home buyers in particular will find good opportunity here, especially if they look to these suburbs’ lower quartile prices, which are even more affordable.

“With the Perth Stadium and surrounding infrastructure nearing completion, the opportunity is there for savvy buyers and investors to purchase in a fast-growing area at an affordable price.”

Even the high end of the market had seen improvements in affordability, with buyers looking to trade up seeing more opportunity in areas such as Peppermint Grove, Applecross and North Coogee.

Mr Groves said while prices in those areas were still well above the Perth median house price, they had become more affordable for buyers looking to trade up into those million dollar suburbs.

On the back of low sales volumes, Peppermint Grove had the biggest annual average change in its median house price over the past five years, shifting from $3.75 million (year to April 2012) to $3.35 million (year to April 2017).

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