Low rates drive biggest home sales growth in 32 years, with WA hitting fastest sale rate in 15 years

Perth property is selling faster than at any point since 2006, new statistics show, with homes flying off the market in a median 17 days. REIWA president Damian Collins said the sale time was 26 days faster than they were a year ago in March 2020. “The turnaround we are witnessing in the Perth property market is quite remarkable,” he said. “In the span of 12 months, we have seen the Perth median selling time drop from 43 days in March 2020 to just 17 days in March 2021. That is a reduction in median time of almost four weeks — or 26 days. “Perth is a seller’s market at the moment and buyers are facing a lot of competition to secure a property, which is reflected in how quickly we are seeing properties sell.” The fast sale time has coincided in a 1.8 per cent in the Perth home value index in March. But the median home is still only $15,000 more expensive than it was a year ago, now sitting at $480,000, according to REIWA. Another index, from RP Data Corelogic, puts the median at just over $500,000. “This is the seventh month in a row the Perth home value index has increased and it shows no signs of slowing down. On a quarterly basis, the home value index is up 5 per cent since the start of the year,” Mr Collins said. “There were 67 suburbs across Perth that recorded an increase in median house sale price during March. The five suburbs with the biggest growth were Cottesloe (up 5.4 per cent to $1.95 million), Como (up 4.1 per cent to $895,000), Rockingham (up 3.8 per cent to $410,000), Lake Coogee (up 3.5 per cent $587,500) and Wannanup (up 3.4 per cent to $530,000),” Mr Collins said. There were 8247 properties for sale in Perth on reiwa.com at the end of March, which is a 5.1 per cent increased compared to February, but a 32.9 per cent drop compared to the same time last year,. “While there are still 4000 fewer listings for sale than there were at the end of March 2020, the increase in the number of properties for sale in March 2021 is an encouraging trend. “It appears Perth property owners are increasingly recognising there is excellent opportunity available to sell their home quickly and at a competitive price.” MORE PROPERTY NEWS Nationally, Australia’s housing boom ramped up last month as the nation’s economy and labour market continue to recover strongly from the pandemic. Nationwide house values surged 2.8 per cent in March, the largest increase since October 1988, the CoreLogic data showed. Sydney led the appreciation, surging 3.7 per cent last month and up 6.7 per cent over the first quarter. The rise in property prices has been fuelled by record low borrowing rates, an improving economic outlook, an under-supply of new houses and government incentives. Goldman Sachs expects prices to climb 15 per cent over the next two years as people search for bigger homes, with more space to work in, amid rekindled fears of buyers missing out. While housing prices are climbing from Singapore to Canada and the US, a return to boom times in Australia threatens to swell an already worrisome pile of household debt and make it harder for young people to buy their first home. Australia’s prudential regulator is considering possible measures it can take to cool prices to rein in excessive risk-taking. Financial regulators are also keeping a close watch on the latest housing market developments, but say they are not concerned at this stage. Some Perth homeowners have expressed concern at finding a rental property to live in before finding a new home to buy. Leasing levels are down 18.8 per cent compared to March last year. But it increase 15.6 per cent this month. Perth’s median rent price has so held at $400 per week for the third month in a row in March. But with the rental moratorium lifting, there are expectations this median will now rise. There were 2722 properties listed for rent in Perth on reiwa.com at the end of March and the median time to lease a rental was 19 days. “This marks the seventh consecutive month listings for rent have sat below 3000. The figure for March is down 1.6 per cent compared to February and a substantial 49.9 per cent when compared to March 2020,” Mr Collins said. “Perth desperately needs an influx of available rental stock. Now that the rental moratorium is over, we should start to see more properties come to market in the coming months, but it is not going to fix all the problems. “We need to incentivise property investment in WA so we can meet the demand for rental housing.” CORELOGIC NATIONAL HOME VALUE INDEX FOR MARCH (Month, Annual) National — up 2.8 per cent, up 6.2 per cent Sydney — up 3.7 per cent, up 5.4 per cent Melbourne — up 2.4 per cent, up 0.7 per cent Brisbane — 2.4 per cent, up 6.8 per cent Adelaide — up 1.5 per cent, up 8.6 per cent Perth — up 1.8 per cent, up 6.0 per cent Hobart — up 3.3 per cent, up 12.5 per cent Darwin — up 2.3 per cent, up 14.2 per cent Canberra — up 2.8 per cent, up 12.1 per cent Combined capitals — up 2.8 per cent, up 4.8 per cent Combined regional — up 2.5 per cent, 11.4 per cent Bloomberg with AAP