Perths wettest July in many yearshasnt dampened buyer appetite, with reiwa.com data revealing listings for saledropped 2.3 per cent in July and are down 6.4 per cent compared to April 2021.
REIWA President Damian Collins said it is pleasingthat stock is being soaked up quickly, despite the very wet weather Perth hasbeen experiencing.
Normallywet weather dampens peoples interest in attending property inspections, butJuly was still a very strong month for sales. As we transition out of winterinto spring, this should put the Perth property market in a good position tocontinue its strong recovery, Mr Collins said.
Listingsfor sale
There were 8,374 listings for sale at the end of Julyon reiwa.com.
Much of this decline is being driven by houses, withhouse listings down 6.2 per cent over the month and 11.9 per cent compared tothree months ago, Mr Collins said.
The suburbs to record the biggest decreases inlistings in July were Banksia Grove (down 44 per cent), Lockridge (down 37 percent), Darlington (down 33 per cent), Glendalough (down 33 per cent) and HelenaValley (down 33 per cent).
It is encouraging to see stockstill being absorbed at a healthy pace during winter when wed generally expectfewer sales to occur, Mr Collins said.
Home valueindex and median sale price
CoreLogic datashows the Perth home value index lifted 0.3 per cent in July and is up almost11 per cent over the last 12 months.
Even though the rate of growth has slowed down, it is reassuring to seethere has still been price growth, which will put Perth in a strong position aswe enter the spring selling season, Mr Collins said.
reiwa.com data shows the Perth median house sale price in July was$520,500.
The suburbs to record thebiggest increase in median house sale price during July were Spearwood (up 3.3per cent to $485,000), Kingsley (up 3.1 per cent to $620,000), Leda (up 2.9 percent to $300,500), Success (up 2.8 per cent to $521,000) and Greenfields (up2.8 per cent to $297,500).
Its pleasing to seerepresentation from the more affordable end of the market in the top performingprice growth suburbs. The Perth market recovery is widespread and occurring acrossall price points, Mr Collins said.
Medianselling days
reiwa.com data shows the median time to sella property was 17 days in July.
Even though this figure is one day slowerthan June, houses are still selling 27 days faster than they were a year ago,Mr Collins said.
The 10 fastest selling suburbs inJuly were Kingsley (six days), Willetton (seven days), Heathridge (eight days),Kinross (eight days), Palmyra (eight days), Waikiki (nine days), Greenwood (10days), Leeming (10 days), Hocking (10 days) and North Perth (10 days).
Perth rental market
Perths median rent price wasstable in July, holding at $425 per week.
Although the Perth median rent pricehas increased over the last year, we are still $25 cheaper than the peak median rentprice of $450 per week in 2013 and 2014. Its reassuring for tenants thatthe rate of growth has slowed since the end of the rental moratorium, MrCollins said.
Leasingactivity
Leasing activity increased 0.3per cent in July and is up 7.1 per cent compared to April.
Victoria Park saw the biggest increase in leased properties, withactivity up 71 per cent in July compared to June. Other suburbs to perform wellwere Maylands (up 63 per cent), Piara Waters (up 50 per cent), Balga (up 50 percent), Dianella (up 40 per cent) and Southern River (up 38 per cent).
Listingsfor rent
There were 2,734 properties for rent in Perthat the end of July, according to reiwa.com data.
"Listingsfor rent have increased 13 per cent since the height of the rental shortage in December2020. Although there is still a rental shortage, this is an encouraging trendthat needs to continue to achieve a balanced market, Mr Collins said.
The five suburbs to record thebiggest increase in rental listings during July were Bayswater, Mount Hawthorn,Halls Head, Ascot and Bassendean.
"The increase inlistings since January reinforces that investor confidence is slowly startingto return. This is also backed up by Australian Bureau of Statistics data whichshows investor loan approvals in Western Australia increased to $498 million inMay 2021, which is 10 per cent more than April 2021 and 209 per cent more thanMay 2020, Mr Collins said.
We still have some way to go before we get back to abalanced market, but the early signs are good. It is vital that the review ofthe Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) does not derail this progress bydiscouraging investor activity. Now is not the time to be making significantchanges to the RTA.
