Professionals Real Estate 
A rebound in jobs and full time employment in Western Australia has resulted in the State having the second lowest unemployment rate in Australia after New South Wales according to the latest ABS employment figures for September 2017.
Shane Kempton, Chief Operations Officer of Professionals Real Estate Group in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, said that these very positive full-time job figures confirmed that the WA economy was now starting to fire again.
“The ABS figures reveal that more than 44,000 full time jobs have been created in WA over the year ending September 2017.
“This has helped drive down the unemployment rate in WA from 6.4% in September 2016 to 5.6% in September 2017.
“Jobs and full time employment creation is very important because it means that more people in the State are earning full time wages rather than part time wages and this additional income will flow into the wider economy.
“Of the six States in Australia, Western Australia is now the second lowest unemployment rate. WA’s unemployment rate is now lower than Victoria (6.0%), South Australia (6.0%), Tasmania (6.0%). Queensland (5.9%) and only slightly higher than New South Wales (4.8%).
“To follow the national media, property investors throughout Australia would believe that Western Australia is an economic basket case.
“The reality is that there has been a major improvement in the WA economy over the past year which is being driven by an upswing in major new investment particularly in the gold and lithium resource sectors of the economy.
“This upswing in the WA economy is already having a positive impact on the local property market.
“For example, the number of vacancy rental properties in Perth has now fallen to around 9,500 compared to over 12,000 just a short period of time ago.
“Professionals are also finding that our number of properties listed for sale are also starting to decline as buyers are becoming more active in the property market.
“These astute buyers understand that property prices in Perth are now at rock bottom and now is the time to purchase before prices start to rebound on the back of a stronger economy.
“In particular, Professionals is finding strong demand for properties priced below $400,000 in the more affordable areas of Perth such as Midland, Baldivis, Rockingham, Armadale, Byford and parts of Mandurah.
“These buyers tend to be first home buyers as well as investors who are buying established homes close to social infrastructure that have the potential for strong capital growth moving forward,” he said.
