WA one of the most affordable places in Australia to buy and rent property

WA is one of the most affordable places in the country for homebuyers and tenants, according to a new report.

Only the ACT and NT were more affordable when it came to buying a house, while WA was the most affordable state for tenants.

The Real Estate Institute of Australia and Adelaide Bank’s Housing Affordability Report on the September quarter 2017 showed affordability improved in WA’s sales and rental markets on both a quarterly and annual basis, despite wages growth remaining stagnant.

For tenants, the proportion of household income needed to pay rent decreased from 19.2 per cent in the September quarter 2016 to 17.4 per cent in the September quarter 2017.

This was also 0.7 percentage points lower than the June quarter 2017 figure.

For homebuyers, the proportion of household income required to meet mortgage repayments declined from 23.6 percent in June quarter 2017 to 22.4 per cent and was 1.6 per cent lower percentage points than the September quarter 2016 figure.

First-home buyers were more active, making up 36.2 per cent of WA’s owner-occupier market.

Their number rose to 4432, an increase of 7.4 per cent on the June quarter and 17.9 per cent higher than the same time last year.

REIWA president Hayden Groves said WA homebuyers and tenants were in a fortunate position.

“Whilst the Perth property market is showing signs of a recovery in 2018, buyers and tenants remain the beneficiaries of the current environment, with a good supply of housing and rental stock to choose from at the more affordable end of the property market,” Mr Groves said.

Medina was Perth’s most affordable suburb with a median price of $240,000.

Elders Southern Gateway licensee Aaron Bazeley said the area offered excellent value.

“For $230,000 – $240,000 you can buy a three-bedroom, one -bathroom house on a 700sq m block that you can move right into with no work required,” he said.

“Prices are even cheaper for homes that need renovating; I have one listed for $199,000 at the moment.”

Mr Bazeley said buyers were mostly owner-occupiers, particularly first-home buyers, and mum-and-dad investors attracted by Medina’s good value and location, close to the freeway and beach.

“There aren’t many places in Australia where you can buy a nice home on a 700sq m block just five minutes from the beach,” he said.

Mr Bazeley said properties priced to sell were selling quite quickly and he had seen a definite shift in buyer urgency and enquiry in the past three months.

“Enquiry has trebled, we’re out showing properties every day,” he said.

“I feel we’ve reached the bottom of the market and I think we’ll see a lot more properties starting to sell, the market will tighten and towards the end of the year prices might start to move upwards.”