30 May 2012

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Data from the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia out today, show that sales over the last nine weeks have increased by 24 per cent when compared to the same period last year.

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REIWA President David Airey, said reported sales across metropolitan Perth have been strong with a total of 6,979 property sales since the end of March.

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"Prices seem to be holding steady, but there is no question that buyers are more active and there is growing consumer confidence in the property sector," Mr Airey said.---

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REIWA data show current listings in the metropolitan region sitting at 13,291 as of today. This has been trending downwards during 2012 and after a peak in March with 14,358 properties on the market.
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"We are now at a level below the start of the year and have pretty much returned to the equilibrium we might expect from normal market conditions. This is because the 2,840 listings for land is over-represented when compared with historic trends and more developers are now listing on reiwa.com," Mr Airey said.

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Mr Airey said that while first home buyers remained a very active part of the market, trade-up buyers were increasing in numbers and investors were also showing more interest.

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"Buyers are now more confident that market conditions are right. Prices stopped sliding over the last six months and there was modest growth in the March quarter," Mr Airey said.

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In the rental market, the number of properties available to tenants has rebounded by 19 per cent since the beginning in March.

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"At the start of the year there were 2,908 rental properties available in Perth. This fell to 2,105 in early March but has now rebounded to 2,507 as of today."

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"Thankfully, it looks like the seasonal demand for rentals experienced every year during the March quarter has eased off. This has been helped by many first home buyers who have exited from a rental to live in their own home, and also by the emergence of investors bringing property back to the market," Mr Airey said.-