Residential listings for sale and rent at a six-year low in WA

There are few signs that the Perth residential property market has been impacted by COVID-19 with the market seeing higher demand than supply and available stock dropping through the period.

REIWA President Damian Collins said despite the COVID-19 pandemic, we are seeing the number of properties for sale and rent continue to reduce each month to currently sit at a six-year low, with 11,690 properties currently for sale and 5,165 properties for rent on reiwa.com.

“Perth’s property market has been showing signs of recovery since October 2019 and while COVID-19 may delay this, it most likely won’t stop it. The state’s economy is coming back much quicker than many experts thought and as long as it continues to recover, it is unlikely the property market recovery will be reversed,” Mr Collins said.

Sales Market

Looking at listings for sale from an annual perspective, the same time in May 2019 there were 16,233 properties for sale on reiwa.com which is 29 per cent higher than current stock levels.

“Another positive is to see that the average discount accepted by sellers has reduced to seven per cent, which is 0.5 per cent lower than May last year. If we were in a struggling market, we would see this number higher as sellers accepted lower than normal prices.

“Due to the lower than normal stock levels we are currently seeing and reduction of sellers discounting, there should not be any major downward price pressure and it is likely that the current median sale price of $477,000 will remain relatively stable over the coming months,” Mr Collins said.

Rental Market

From a rental perspective, current stock levels are eight per cent lower than April and 29 per cent lower than the same time last year.

“Since the start of the year the vacancy rate has remained under three per cent, with it currently sitting at 2.4 per cent and despite the lack of stock, rentals are still in high demand which REIWA agents on the ground are seeing by the number of people booking into home opens,” Mr Collins said.

“While things are looking positive so far for the property market, we need to ensure that the market continues the recovery we have been waiting for. Therefore, it is time for tax reform in our state and REIWA will continue to lobby for the removal of stamp duty and work with both sides of parliament to find a better solution.”

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