Balanced real estate market on the horizon

Professionals Real Estate Group has recorded a major leap in overall real estate sales throughout Western Australia during the current financial year, from July 2009 until February 2010.
According to David Hobbs, CEO of Professionals, the total value of property sales recorded by the group in the past eight months ending February 2010 was in excess of $1.4 billion.
“This represents an overall increase in the value of real estate sales of 45% compared to the same eight months in 2008/2009. Professionals have recorded a significant increase in sales in the current financial year for the vast majority of our more than 60 branches throughout the state. In particular, the last eight months has seen a major increase in property sales in regional Western Australia. For example, in Esperance, the total volume of property sales during the financial year to February 2010 nearly doubled from $20.1 million to $38.7 million. The average selling price of a home sold by our Esperance office also increased during this period to $384,600 compared to $355,298 for the first eight months of the previous financial year. There was also a strong improvement in the Busselton real estate market with the value of sales recorded by Professionals nearly tripling to $19.6 million over the first eight months of this financial year compared to 2008/2009. In the Perth metropolitan area, locations which have more affordable properties continued to perform strongly. This trend was underlined by our Armadale office which achieved overall property sales of $26.9 million during July 2009 February 2010, compared to $11.6 million during the same period in 2008/2009. However, there are increasing signs of growth in the up-grader market which is defined by homeowners looking to upgrade to a larger family residence. This increase was highlighted by sales figures from our Ocean Reef office which recorded sales of $35.8 million over 2010 compared to $16.5 million for the previous financial year. In addition, our Canning Vale office has also recorded a major jump in property sales with overall sales totalling more than $60 million during the first eight months of this financial year,” he said.
Mr Hobbs said that he expected property sales for Professionals to remain strong during the remainder of the current financial year due to an increase in overall confidence in the State economy.
“The real estate market is based on confidence which is underpinned by issues such as job security and prospects for increasing wage levels. Real estate sales fell sharply during 2008/2009 because of the impact of the global financial crisis and now we are recording a major improvement in property sales due to the fact that the Western Australian economy is now growing from strength to strength due to major new investment in our resources sector. While rising interest rates may have a short term impact on real estate sales, long term economic factors play a much more important influence on the decision making process of property buyers. Professionals can expect a moderate increase in property values during the coming year which will ensure that real estate will remain relatively affordable and this in turn will make for a balanced real estate market between buyers and sellers. A balanced real estate market is the ideal scenario for the local real estate industry,” he said.
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