A new report from the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC) has laid bare the scale and severity of Western Australia's housing crisis, with data revealing more than 210,000 households now consider their housing unaffordable - an increase of 91 per cent in just two years.
The BCEC Housing Affordability in Western Australia 2025 Report draws on new insights from the 2024 Australian Housing Conditions Data Infrastructure Survey (AHCDIS), which captures national lived housing experiences, as well as WA suburb-level rental analysis to present the most comprehensive picture yet of the State's housing pressures.
It confirms housing in WA is under growing pressure from rapid population growth, sluggish housing supply, soaring rents and construction delays. Only 39 per cent of WA renters and 48 per cent of mortgage holders consider their housing affordable.
The report highlights the growing mismatch between key worker wages and housing costs, with most single-income key workers such as nurses, police officers and firefighters effectively priced out of home ownership in many parts of Perth.
While more than 20,000 homes were completed in 2024 - the highest number since 2017 - WA still fell 4000 homes short of the National Housing Accord target of 24,000 homes per year.
For the first time, the report tracks changes in rental supply across suburbs and regions, revealing Perth fell 7700 rental homes short of simply keeping pace with population growth from March 2023 to the end of 2024.
The growing shortfall in rental stock has driven the median weekly rent to $740 - a 76 per cent increase since 2020.
WA's population grew by 4.2 per cent since March 2023, with 85 per cent of new arrivals settling in the Perth metropolitan area, intensifying demand.
BCEC Director John Curtin Distinguished Professor Alan Duncan said housing was no longer just an economic issue.
"We are witnessing a breakdown in the ability of WA's housing system to meet the needs of ordinary West Australians," Professor Duncan said.
"We're building more homes, but it's not enough to meet demand. Housing costs continue to rise faster than incomes and what's being built often isn't where people want or need to live.
"Despite some signs of a softening housing market, there has been an accumulation of pressure on households from years of high housing costs, low rental vacancies and an inadequate supply of new stock. These challenges risk slowing the state's economic development and continue to affect the most financially vulnerable people in our community.
"While rental vacancy rates have broken two per cent for the first time in more than two years, this won't ease the rental crisis any time soon. Even with urgent action, relief is at least 12 to 18 months away, with rental costs unlikely to stabilise until 2026."
Cost pressures have built due to rental vacancy rates remaining below one per cent for two years, while the number of available rentals under $350 per week has dropped by 82 per cent.
Professor Duncan said the first-time use of suburb-by-suburb rental bond data has revealed a rapid loss of low-cost rentals and growing housing supply on Perth's fringe, locking vulnerable renters into a cycle of disadvantage.
"As affordable homes vanish from inner and middle suburbs, low and moderate-income renters are being pushed to the outer edges of the city where jobs and services are scarcer," Professor Duncan said.
"This is reshaping the social map of our State and deepening inequality."
Home ownership is also becoming more difficult, as construction delays have doubled build times to more than 15 months, adding up to $100,000 to the cost of a new home.
Report co-author Professor Steven Rowley, Director of the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute - Curtin Research Centre, emphasised the link between the standard of housing and health outcomes.
"Our report also highlights the relationship between poor housing and poor health, with 43 per cent of those in unaffordable housing reporting physical health issues and more than 40 per cent report mental health concerns," Professor Rowley said.
"Homelessness in WA has also risen eight per cent since 2016, with women now making up two-thirds of those accessing help.
"Cost pressures have pushed more and more families into housing crisis and WA's social housing waitlist has grown to 20,700, an increase of more than a third in five years."
Professor Rowley said an even greater concern is the 330 per cent growth in priority social housing cases since 2018, with 6300 of those in greatest (priority 1) need waiting to be homed.
"The ongoing commitment from the WA government to increase the state's social housing stock is to be welcomed and 1700 units added to the social housing stock in the space of two years is good to see," Professor Rowley said.
"But the need is great and growing, and much more needs to be done.
"We need around 16,000 more social housing units to raise WA's social housing provision to around 5 per cent of total stock, roughly equivalent to levels in NSW and SA."
The BCEC report outlines more than 30 recommendations to improve housing affordability in WA, including urgent action within the next 12 months to expand rental assistance, make WA's rent relief program permanent, boost homelessness services and strengthen early intervention for those at risk of rental stress or family breakdown.
Professor Duncan said the system must move faster and with more coordination if the State is to avoid long-term consequences.
"Without bold, coordinated action, we risk locking an entire generation out of secure, affordable housing - which will have many negative flow-on effects," Professor Duncan said.
"We are at a critical juncture: many people working full-time can't afford a place to live and those who can are being pushed to areas that add cost, stress and complexity to their lives.
"We can get housing right with integrated policy solutions, long-term planning and genuine collaboration - but the time to act is now."
