Western Australia House price increases, in areas such as Perth’s Midland, Wangara/Wanneroo, Cockburn Central and the state’s Pilbara region, will result from improving consumer confidence, planned projects coming online, shortage of supply and low interest rates. Uncertainty and low job prospects in the Goldfields/Esperance region will underpin any price drops. Lifestyle preference is driving apartment/strata property prices in regions such as Perth-Midland and Pilbara.
Rental The Western Australia rental market was the stand out performer in the March quarter, recording a growth of 2.4 per cent on the back of a resources-led population growth. This trend is expected to continue for the remainder of 2013. Rents are predicted to rise 3.6 per cent over the next two years to March 2015, with most of the forecast gains seen in the state according to industry reports. The market is expected to tighten even further, with vacancy rates expected to hold or trend downward, driving weekly rental prices upward 57 per cent of members say vacancy rates will hold at current levels, with 43 per cent expecting them to decrease, while 72 per cent expect weekly rentals to increase and the remaining 28 per cent evenly split on whether they will remain flat or decrease. Perth’s Midland region and Pilbara will see the strongest rental market, followed by Wangara/Wanneroo, Central Cockburn and Midwest regions. The Goldfields/Esperance region will see a relatively flat rental market, where vacancy rates will ease and trend upwards, which is being offset by rising weekly rental prices. Perth, in particular, continues to record massive increases in both house and unit rental prices. The rental vacancy rate for the city is just 1.8 per cent and median weekly rents jumped by nearly 14 per cent over the last year.
2013 Property Market Outlook Mid Year Update | First National Real Estate
65