HOME buyers continued to benefit from low prices in March, with the CoreLogic home value index recording a decline in Perth’s median price to $442,716, down 0.4 per cent on the February result and 7.7 per cent lower than a year ago.
Reiwa president Damian Collins said while values had declined again, the rate of decline had slowed to the lowest level recorded since June 2018.
He was hopeful that this was an indication that Perth prices may be approaching the bottom.
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“Reiwa.com data shows there were numerous suburbs that saw their median house price buck the declining trends, with 30 per cent of those statistically significant suburbs experiencing an increase in price and 15 per cent remaining stable, which is a positive trend in the current real estate environment,” Mr Collins said.
Mullaloo top for price growth Mullaloo was the best performing suburb for median house price growth during March.
Oceanside Realty director Terry Clark and senior sales executive Angela Glink are Mullaloo specialists and they said the local market had performed extremely well over the past couple of months.
“We strongly believe this is due to Mullaloo being a smaller suburb than neighbouring suburbs, with few properties available for purchase at any given time,” Mrs Glink said.
“Along with the fact it still represents very good value for oceanside properties in comparison to other suburbs, with well-located properties close to the beach and foreshore in demand.”
Mrs Glink said they had seen an increase in demand for new homes on smaller allotments, with downsizers being the driving force behind this.
When it came to families she said medium-priced homes with four bedrooms, two bathrooms and space for a young growing family in the vicinity of $600,000 – $650,000 were very popular, with demand continuing to exceed supply.
“Recently we have had several family homes sell before actively going to market, others selling in a few weeks with multiple offers and one beachfront property under offer in just three days,” Mrs Glink said.
Other top performing suburbs for median house price growth were Wannanup, Lesmurdie, Alkimos, Karrinyup, Yanchep, Rivervale, Mount Pleasant, The Vines and Warnbro.
“Although the Perth residential sales market remains subdued, the data for March shows some signs that price values may be starting to strengthen in some areas after a prolonged period of declines,” Mr Collins said.
Rental market improves While the sales side of the market may be languishing, the rental market continues to gain momentum.
According to Reiwa, 82 per cent of Perth suburbs recording either stable or increased median rent prices, where there were enough statistically significant transactions during the period.
“While Perth’s overall median rent price remains at $350, we are seeing an increasing number of suburbs record upward movement in prices, which is a welcome development for Perth landlords and suggests it’s only a matter of time before Perth’s overall median rent starts to climb,” Mr Collins said.
The 10 suburbs to record the biggest increase in median rent price during the month were North Perth, East Perth, Perth, Dudley Park, Cloverdale, Meadow Springs, Padbury, Kardinya, Lakelands and Port Kennedy.
“Of those 10 suburbs, North Perth, East Perth and Perth saw the most notable improvement in price, with their medians lifting by $20, $20 and $18 respectively, a substantial increase on February and a testament to the increasing demand from tenants,” Mr Collins said.
“Perth’s vacancy rate is currently the lowest it’s been in six years at 2.3 per cent, with declining stock levels and increased tenant demand pushing the market in favour of landlords.
“This shows no signs of abating any time soon, and we’re confident that it’s simply a matter of ‘when’ not ‘if’ Perth’s overall median rent price will increase this year.”