- Sales of units in Perth are up 58% compared to a year ago
- Average days on market are down to 32 days, from 57 days
- Houses are being snapped up even quicker, 15 days
As if to outdo yesterday’s news from Sydney and Melbourne of inner city unit sales stabilising, out in the West unit sales are exploding.
According to the latest reiwa.com data from the Real Estate Institute of WA (REIWA), sales of units rose 58% in the March quarter, as compared to the same period a year earlier.
“Unit sales are the highest they have been since 2013. Several factors are contributing to this.
“With the shortage of houses for sale, more people are considering a unit as a place to live. Also, we have started to see investors return to the market and many prefer to buy units.
Damian Collins, REIWA President
“Apartments, townhouses and units also offer plenty of lifestyle appeal and convenience, as they are generally lower maintenance and positioned closer to the CBD and other amenities,” Mr Collins said.
While the number of Perth metro units listed for sale in March 2021 is down 16% compared to March 2020, the drop off is not as steep as for houses, which fell 41% over the same period.
Days on market
In other data released from the Institute, the number of days a property takes to sell (“Days on Market”) has almost halved, compared to a year ago.
In a further sign of a booming property market, the median time it took to sell a property during the recent March quarter was only 32 days, down from 57 days in March quarter 2020.
“While units are being snapped up quicker than they were a year ago, the unit median selling time for the three months to March 2021 is still 17 days longer than the median selling time for a house (15 days),” said Mr Collins in a statement.
Meanwhile, the median unit selling price in Perth is $381,750 according to the latest reiwa.com data. This is around $120,000 less (-24%) than the median average house price of $499,000.
Affordability is another factor contributing to the surge in unit sales, said Mr Collins.
“While Perth’s median house price has grown four% over the last year, the median unit price is only up 0.5%,” Mr Collins said.
“REIWA is forecasting strong house price growth in 2021. With the rental moratorium over and near record-low vacancy rates, it is likely the strong demand for units will continue throughout the remainder of 2021.”
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Disclosure: the author used to work at REIWA previously.
