REIWA report on property market for September

MEDIAN PRICE
Real-time sales data by REIWA members is showing a 2.8 per cent fall in the metropolitan median with Perth now showing a median of around $508,000 for September, down from the revised June quarter median of $522,500. REIWA President David Airey said the data was not surprising given strong first home buyer activity at the more affordable end of the market pulling down the median.
However, he said with first home buyer activity starting to slow he expected the decline to turn around in the December quarter.
SALES TURNOVER
“We reported 2001 sales in the month of September and even though that figure is up by 13 per cent on the same time last year, it’s a drop of 4 percent in sales since August,” Mr Airey said.
Mr Airey said the south-east part of metropolitan Perth was the only area with significant sales movement where more affordable homes in Gosnells and Armadale were attractive to buyers. Turnover jumped by 8 and 12 per cent respectively.
“We also saw a modest lift in turnover in the western suburbs, northern Joondalup and the north eastern part of Wanneroo, however, this was based on small sales volumes,” Mr Airey said.
Areas with weaker sales turnover included the northwest area of Wanneroo (down 21 per cent), Bassendean and Bayswater (down 19 per cent), and the cities of Swan and Canning, both down 9 per cent.
LISTINGS
There were 8,693 properties listed for sale in September, down by 6 per cent on August and down 16 per cent on last year. “Of the properties for sale 7,527 were dwellings and showed a drop of 5 per cent on August, while 1,166 were blocks of land, down by 6 per cent on August,” Mr Airey said.
RENTAL MARKET
REIWA data also show that the rental system is cooling with median rents dropping by around 1 per cent as the metropolitan vacancy rate rests at a normal 3.1 per cent of available properties.  “We now have around 3,843 rental listings in the market place which is down by about 6 per cent over the last three months but still well above the same time last year at 81 per cent.
“Within this context the median rent has dropped back to $470 per week, or around $475 for a house – down by $5 on the June quarter and $450 for a flat, unit, apartment or villa – down by $10,” Mr Airey said.
REIWA data is now highlighting the expected fall in rents anticipated in several sub-markets. Mr Airey said that as REIWA had previously predicted, the rise in the vacancy rate was now seeing a softening in rents in a number of areas.
RENTS COMING DOWN
“Median rents have come down by $10 per week in Bayswater and Bassendean, $15 in Fremantle, $22 in Melville, $30 in the City of Perth, $25 in South Perth and Victoria Park, $20 in Vincent, $25 in the western suburbs, $23 in Mundaring, $20 in north-west Wanneroo, $10 through northeast and southern Wanneroo, $10 in Cockburn and also $10 in Rockingham,” Mr Airey said.
VACANY RATES
Mr Airey said that around 65 per cent of vacant rental properties are broadly within a 10km radius of the CBD and that this central sub-region witnessed a decrease in listings during the September quarter.
However, some sub-markets such as Bassendean-Bayswater, Belmont and South Perth-Victoria Park saw increases in listings of between 5 and 16 per cent for the quarter.
“In the eastern part of the City of Stirling, places like Joondanna, Yokine and Tuart Hill saw an increase in listings of around 5 per cent,” Mr Airey said.