Increase in appraisals indicate housing market is on the up

CONFIDENCE is returning to the property market with major agencies reporting an increase in enquiry from people considering selling.

LJ Hooker WA regional manager Ken Preston said when there were suggestions of a turning market, home owners became eager to find out what their property could fetch in the changing environment.

“There’s been a feeling that the market may be trending upward, and that proved to be the case in the last quarter of 2017 where Perth’s median house price rose for the first time in several years, albeit modestly,” he said.

“The days properties are spending on the market are tightening, and the enquiries our offices are receiving are up about 16 per cent compared to the start of 2017.”

Harcourts WA chief executive Paul Blakeley said the group had seen an increase in appraisals in the December quarter 2017, up 32 per cent on average on the September quarter.

“We are definitely seeing movement in the market,” he said.

“Harcourts WA has also had an increase in listings by 9.8 per cent in the December quarter, up from the September quarter, and written sales increased by 13.2 per cent over the same period.”

Raine & Horne general manager WA Craig Abbott said figures from industry bodies were indicating that the market had reached the bottom of the cycle.

“Earlier this month investment bank AMP Capital said Perth property market values have bottomed and REIWA figures show the number of properties for sales is an average of 7 per cent lower than in January 2017,” he said.

“Our offices have seen the number of appraisals rise by 10 percent in the last quarter of 2017, which indicates that more owners have resolved to find out about the value of their properties with a possible view to a sale later this year.”

Mr Abbott said owners now had a perfect storm of price support and less competition from other properties.

Increased enquiry from sellers was being seen across Perth.

Mr Preston said there was a lot of interest from people wanting to know the worth of their homes and apartments in the northern corridor between Butler and Two Rocks.

“Down the coast, there’s been a lot of curiosity in Clarkson, and also in Mirrabooka and Joondalup,” he said.

“We’re also finding interest in Midland and Kalamunda where the market has been performing well as the population has been spreading out, and in the southern suburbs there’s been a lot of interest in the upgrader market as well in Thornlie, Cockburn and Leeming.”