State of Markets - WA December 2012

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Fresh land released in WA’s northwest
New land has been released by the state government in Broome North, at Waranyjarri Estate.

Lands minister Brendon Grylls said that 16 single residential lots and four duplex lots had been released close to the future primary school and a local park. These will be priced from $159,000.

“These very reasonable prices demonstrate the government is committed to providing affordable land in a region where, not too long ago, reasonably priced land was hard to come by,” Mr Grylls said.

“As a further incentive for newcomers to the housing market, the five lowest priced lots are reserved for first homebuyers.”

Construction works are underway on another 99 lots that have the potential to be released next year if the demand is strong.

The land is expected to house 13,000 people.

Rents surge in Perth
Median rents in metropolitan Perth have continued to soar, according to recent statistics from the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia (REIWA).

Most recent data saw median house rents jumping by $10 over the quarter to August, up to $450 a week, where units, apartments and villas jumped by $20 to $430 a week.

President of the REIWA, David Airey, said that the rises have been in conjunction with other indicators that point to favourable future investment conditions.

“We have also seen the vacancy rate for available properties tighten in the three months to August, with REIWA recording a measure of just 1.8 per cent across the city,” Mr Airey said.
 
These results come off the back of population growth, first home buyer activity and generally weak investor interest.
 
“Our state has the highest rate of population growth in the country and this is placing increasing demand on the rental system,” he said, while also noting a drop in rental listing numbers.