REGIONAL rents rose in the December quarter 2019 with seven out of nine regional centres recording growth according to the latest data from Reiwa.
Karratha saw the biggest increase up $128 per week to $620 per week.
President Damian Collins said for a second quarter in a row, Karratha saw the most notable improvement across both the sales and rental market.
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READ NOW“On an annual basis, the median weekly rent increased $170 per week and listings for rent fell by 27 per cent, demonstrating that it is a landlord’s market in Karratha after many years of significant rent declines,” he said.
“Reiwa.com data shows that the other mining regional areas also performed well, including Port Hedland, which saw an increase of $50 per week, and Kalgoorlie increasing $8 per week compared to the September quarter.”
The only two regional areas that did not record an increase were Albany, which remained at $350 per week, and Geraldton, which fell by $5 to $290 per week.
When it came to property sales, five regional centres had stable or increased medians during the quarter.
“Karratha was the top performing regional centre with its median lifting 6.8 per cent to $390,000 and increasing 18 per cent on an annual basis,” Mr Collins said.
“After a turbulent few years following the slowdown in the mining sector, Karratha is starting to reap the benefits of renewed investment in mining and gas projects in the Pilbara, which is having a positive impact on the property market.”
Other regional centres with quarterly improvements in median price were Geraldton (up 5 per cent), Broome (up 1.4 per cent), Bunbury (up 0.9 per cent) and Albany (up 0.2 per cent).
While there were improvements in some aspects of the property market in regional areas, only three saw an increase in sales activity for the quarter.
“Busselton saw the biggest increase of 13 per cent, which was closely followed by Kalgoorlie with a 6 per cent increase and Geraldton increasing by 2 per cent,” Mr Collins said.
“Despite this, most of the regional areas also had a decrease in sales listings over the quarter, which is the same trend we are seeing in the rental market and demonstrates current stock is being absorbed at a faster pace than new supply entering the market.”
