- Perth will end 2023 as the best capital city price growth performer.
- Perth's median property values rose to $622,000 in November.
- Unit and strata properties are becoming a more popular investment.
Perth’s property market momentum has slowed, while Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane’s are on the rise, according to the Hotspotting Price Predictor Index (PPI) for Summer 2023.
As per the PropTrack Home Price Index November 2023 figures, Perth’s home price recorded the highest annual growth at 12.76%, pushing the median values of Perth homes to $622,000.
Home Price Growth – Annual PropTrack Home Price Index
Hotspotting director, Terry Ryder, said although Perth will finish off 2023 as the best capital city price growth performer, its market momentum stumbled over the past quarter.
“The WA capital has been our strongest market for the past year and a growth market for longer, but this survey finds the first signs of slowdown,” said Ryder.
Perth has stellar 2023
Throughout the year, Perth’s real estate market has demonstrated remarkable resilience even with the significant obstacles of high interest rates, supply issues, and builders going bust.
Earlier in the year, Ryder pointed to Gosnells, located roughly 20 kilometres from Perth CBD, as a particularly strong location due to its low price point and strong sales activity.
Moreover, affordable homes in Dudley Park in Seville Grove were flying off the market in as little as three days.
As the race to snap up a property intensified, it is no wonder that by the end of September, Perth’s stock was at a drastically low level of fewer than 5,000 listings, a 30-year low.
However, November has seen a slight increase of available stock at just over 7,000, according to SQM research figures.
Perth’s available listings
Interstate investors also latched onto Western Australia’s relative affordability and strong fundamentals. From Q1 2022 to Q1 2023, property investment in WA increased from nine per cent to 32%.
REIWA CEO, Cath Hart, also noted that Perth was the only capital city to record moderate price growth over the financial year despite the medley of interest rate rises.
Melbourne to lead the charge
Nevertheless, Hotspotting’s latest data shows that only 54% of Perth’s suburbs have price momentum now compared to 79% three months ago.
“Perth has lost its position as a national growth leader according to our research – although it will take time before it shows up in the price data,” said Ryder.
Hotspotting general manager, Tim Graham, said Melbourne’s turnaround has been undeniable.
“Six months ago, we reported a glimmer of recovery, three months ago we recorded an emphatic revival and now Melbourne is the nation’s strongest market with 87% of suburbs having positive trends.”
Tim Graham, Hotspotting
“The upsurge is seen in most market sectors across the Greater Melbourne Area.”
Brisbane and Sydney are closely following Melbourne, at 85% and 84% of those cities’ suburbs recording positive rankings respectively.
Apartments gaining favour among buyers
Another key finding of the PPI survey was that unit markets were attracting more interest.
“Suburbs where apartments dominate the dwelling mix are among the most powerful markets in Australia,” said Graham.
Part of this could be attributed to a dearth of listings, leading to homebuyers and investors to turn their gaze to unit and strata properties, as seen in Perth.
“The National Top 100 list of Supercharged Suburbs includes 24 in Greater Sydney, of which half are locations dominated by units,” said Graham.
“Inner-city suburbs in Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth also feature prominently on this list.”
