Professionals Real Estate 
Falling petrol prices are having the same financial benefit as an interest cut to home mortgages in Western Australia according to Shane Kempton, CEO of Professionals Real Estate Group.
Mr Kempton said that with crude oil prices falling by more than half during the past six months, Perth motorists are now saving up to 50 cents a litre on filling their cars with petrol.
“This represents a huge financial saving for householders especially those living in the outer metropolitan area where transport costs tend to be higher.
“While there is talk that the RBA may cut interest rates later this year, the reality is that home owners have had an effective cut in interest rates due to the savings in their family budget caused by lower petrol prices.
“Changes in petrol prices historically do have an impact on the property because Western Australia has one of the highest car ownership rates in the world. Due to this fact, when fuel prices rise, it reduces the disposal income of families meaning that they have less money to spend on housing and larger mortgages.
“In contrast when petrol prices fall to low very low levels which they are currently doing, it helps to support activity in the housing market as people have greater disposal income.
“The biggest positive impact on the local property market of lower fuel prices will be in the outer suburbs where many people own two cars and the weekly fuel bill can be one of their biggest weekly expenses.
“Despite recent commentary that the Western Australia property market might face a challenging year with falling property values, I am still very confident about the outlook for the housing market.
“Low petrol prices combined with possible future interest rate cuts will underpin the local property market and ensure that housing still remains affordable in the State.
“Compared to Eastern State capital cities such as Sydney, Perth house prices are still very competitive and buyers still have a large choice of established homes priced from under $500,000.
“Overall, I believe the median house price in Perth should remain relatively steady during 2015 if petrol prices and interest rates continue to remain low,” he said.
