Listings for home sales in Perth dropped to a 10-year low in February, with fewer than 8000 properties listed for sale on reiwa.com in the West Australian capital at the end of last month.
February was the seventh consecutive month listings for sale had declined in Perth, REIWA President Damian Collins said, with 7899 homes listed.
“In the span of a year, listings have dropped 36.5 per cent to now sit below 8000 for the first time in about a decade,” Mr Collins said.
“Buyers are very active in the market and soaking up stock at a rapid pace.”
Yesterday’s CoreLogic figures showed Perth’s home value index rose 1.5 per cent in February, which followed a 1.6 per cent increase in January, representing the sixth month in a row the index had climbed.
According to reiwa.com data, the median sale price in Perth in February was $490,000.
“There were 50 Perth suburbs that saw their median sale price increase in February,” Mr Collins said.
The suburbs with the biggest increase were East Fremantle, which recorded an increase of 5.7 per cent; South Yunderup, up 5.2 per cent; Seville Grove, up three per cent; Cloverdale which rose by 2.7 per cent; and Ballajura, which was up 2.5 per cent.
Wellard, Landsdale, Warnbro, Gosnells, and Bayswater also all recorded median sale growth.
In addition to supply being short on the selling front, there were also fewer than 3000 properties available for rent, with 2839 properties for rent in Perth at the end of February, according to reiwa.com data.
“This marks the sixth consecutive month we’ve seen listings sit below 3000. Perth desperately needs an influx of rental stock in the market to provide renters with more housing options,” Mr Collins said.
Perth’s median rent price held at the five-year high of $400 per week in February, which is on par with January and $40 more per week than February 2020.
“Median leasing days are the lowest they have been since June 2013. Like we are seeing in the sales market, with so few available listings, tenants are having to act very quickly to secure a rental,” Mr Collins said.
“Perth is in desperate need of more rental stock to help ease the rental shortage. In order to do this, we need to entice investors back to the market.”
