Is Perth an ‘investor’s paradise’?
Smart investors know how to time the market and get in when the going's tough. So is Perth at the perfect point in the property cycle to grab a bargain?
For some time now I have been saying that now is a great time to invest in the Perth property market.
That is because smart investors always buy at the bottom of the market and not at the top of the market.
There is now every indication that the Perth property market has bottomed and there is only one way it can go from here – upwards!
If you wanted clear evidence that the Perth property market has now bottomed, then a good indicator is property listings.
The number of properties listed for sale in Perth during November 2016 was 24,220 according to the latest data for CoreLogic. That’s even more than for Sydney at 22,378 which has more than twice the population.
While this might seem a bleak figure, the good news for the Perth property market is that the number of houses listed for sale has begun to stabilise after a rapid increase over the past two years. That is a strong sign that the local market has reached or has nearly reached rock bottom.
For investors, now is a great time to purchase a property in Perth because the reality is that they now have more choice than buying in the Sydney market.
Property sellers in Perth are still prepared to offer significant discounts off the selling price to achieve a sale. This is very attractive to buyers who are focusing on prime locations such as those close to the river, ocean or Perth city centre.
Over the past six months, we have found that investors are now recognising that now is a great time to buy a property in Perth.
With the price of iron ore now above $70 a tonne, there are now positive signs that the Western Australia economy is on the mend and this will have a flow-on effect on the property market during the coming years.
The affordability of homes in Perth is underlined by that fact that the median house price in Perth is now around $500,000 which is roughly the same level as a decade ago.
In many areas of the city, astute property investors can secure prime properties near the city centre for well under this price.
Older-style homes located close to the city that have redevelopment potential in the near to mid-term are now very popular with investors.
These investors understand that these older-style properties offer generous tax depreciation benefits which has helped fund the ‘holding period’ for investors until they decide to redevelop them.
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