MEDIAN house prices in Alkimos, Two Rocks, Jindalee and Yanchep fell for the year to September 2015 according to Real Estate Institute of WA data.
Yanchep in the year to September 2015 fell 7.1 per cent over 122 sales giving the northern coastal suburb a median house price of $427,500.
The median house price in Jindalee was $660,000 a fall of 4 per cent over 27 sales.
Sixty-two sales were recorded in Alkimos for the 12 months to September 2015 giving the suburb a median house price of $491,500.
Forty-seven homes were sold in Two Rocks during the year to September 2015.
The city’s most northern suburb had a median house price of $412,000 a fall of 1.9 per cent in the 12 months.
REIWA president Hayden Groves said Perth’s moderating housing market presented opportunities for buyers to secure property at a more affordable price with houses and units both posting declines to their median house price in the quarter.
“The median house price for the September quarter came in at $522,133, an adjustment of 4.2 per cent on the revised June quarter median of $545,000, while units and apartments edged back 2.3 per cent to $420,125 from the revised June quarter figure of $430,000,” he said.
Throughout the September quarter, the stock of listings for sale hovered above the long term average of 12,000 to sit about 15,100 for the quarter.
Since then listings for sale in Perth have nudged over the 16,000 mark, levels not seen since the immediate post GFC days.
“With these stock levels of property available in Perth, prospective buyers considering a purchase in the WA property market are under less pressure to make a hasty buying decision.”
While reiwa.com data showed sales volumes had dipped during the September quarter, there was a slight increase in volumes in late October to take the range from 500 to 700 sales a week since April.
“We estimate that total dwelling sales for the quarter will come in at around 8600 sales across WA, below the average and fewer than the June quarter, although the winter months normally return a subdued sales volume measure.
“As to be expected, present market conditions had an influence on selling days and discounting across the quarter.
“The average number of selling days for the Perth metro region is now at 62 days, which is up five days on the June quarter, while 53 per cent of vendors needed to discount their asking price in order to sell.
The $3000 First Home Owners Grant for established homes was officially abolished on October 3.
Mr Groves said the news of this impending cut had had an impact on first home buyer grant activity.
“As expected the State Government’s decision to cut this grant for established homes saw a spike in grant activity in September as first time buyers rushed to meet the cut off.
“The Office of State Revenue (OSR) reports that there were 862 paid grants in September versus 799 paid grants in August 2015, which is an increase of eight per cent over the month. Established home grants also represented 53 per cent of total grants paid over the quarter.
“For the month of September, the OSR reports that there were 767 grants paid for new builds, a figure consistent with the August figure.”
The median rent price for both houses and units in Perth retreated across the quarter, with the overall median dropping $20 to now rest at $400 per week, which breaks down to $420 for houses and $395 for units.
Mr Groves said WA’s rental market was feeling the impact of slowing population growth coupled with improved housing supply.
“The most recently released population figures from the ABS shows net interstate migration into WA has now declined by almost 38 per cent in the March 2015 quarter.
“Population movements have a significant impact on the Perth rental market and this is evidenced by the lower median prices observed in the three months to September 2015.
“There has, however, been a lift in net overseas migration by 150 per cent during the same period, which saw rental stock stabilise over the September quarter to sit in a range of between 8000 and 8500, following the peak in July.
“The rental vacancy rate for the three months to September sits at 5.6 per cent in the Perth metropolitan area availing tenants plenty of opportunities to secure an affordable home in a central location.”
