Latest data from the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia show that late settlements from the September quarter have lifted the median price from that period by $5,000 to $485,000.
REIWA President Alan Bourke said the Institute’s
reiwa.com data is showing that property sales have increased during October and November while the median price has remained steady at around $485,000.
“The high number of listings had peaked at 17,600 but is now trending down following a 14 per cent jump in sales over the last couple of months.
“We are now starting to see a decline in sales for the start of December, but this is a seasonal occurrence and is to be expected,” Mr Bourke said.
Mr Bourke said around 10 per cent of sellers took properties off the market over the summer holiday period with the intention of relisting them in the New Year.
“Our data do not show any particular shifts in price ranges or geographic areas, suggesting a steady market across metropolitan Perth,” Mr Bourke said.
Recent finance data released by Australian Bureau of Statistics showed the level of overall finance approvals for WA in October had a modest 0.9 per cent fall after the 5 per cent growth in approvals for September.
Mr Bourke said there was a dip in new housing construction finance in October but overall level of approvals were up just 1 per cent in recent months, indicating that the market is ‘bumping along the bottom.’
“Refinancing approvals, representing 32 per cent of all loan approvals in the three months to October, were up by 2 per cent as borrowers looked to fix rates or change lenders for a better deal,” Mr Bourke said.
REIWA says median rents remain steady despite preliminary figures from the rental vacancy survey suggesting that Perth’s vacancy rate was trending down from 3.4 per cent from the September quarter to 3.1 per cent in the three months to November.
Mr Bourke said overall market signals were encouraging with a lift in sales turnover, the median price stabilising and properties on the market declining.