- 1,000+ properties are selling a week in Perth, with stock now below 8,000
- These are boom conditions, similar to the peak of the last mining boom in 2006
- The rental market is even more tight, with less than a month's stock available
At the peak of the last property boom in Perth in 2006 – also stirred by the mining boom, as today – properties were selling at the rate of a thousand a week.
A thousand people (net) were also drawn to move to the isolated city a week, and with all those extra cars on the roads, the place was buzzing, if not a bit congested, and becoming rather expensive.
Fifteen years on, and things are having a habit of repeating themselves, as the mining boom and COVID pandemic have made Perth a very attractive proposition.
Last week, the Real Estate Institute of WA (REIWA) collected sales data from their real estate members, who reported 1,058 transactions.
The same week a year ago saw 30% fewer sales with 702. All these sales are also reducing the available stock for sale, and that has shrunk below 8,000 for the first time in years.
At this rate, there are less than two months of residential sales stock available.
A ‘balanced market’ is usually around 12,000 to 13,000 listings in Perth, so at 7,839 the market is very much in short supply. At the same time last year there were 12,406 listings, about right.
As usual, the larger suburbs reported the most sales, with north of the river Scarborough selling 17, and Baldivis, south of the river, 14 together with Rockingham, also 14.
Rental market
On the rental side, the market continues to be even tighter, with only 2,765 properties available, compared to 5,371 on the market for the same week last year.
Last week, 451 houses and 355 units were snapped up by tenants, meaning at the rate they are currently flying out the door, there are only three and a half weeks of stock in the market.
That is a very tight rental market, and as a local property manager noted only yesterday, the outlook is for real issues when rents rise and tenants are looking for new places when the current eviction moratorium ends on 28 March.
