There’s been a lot of talk lately about a shortage of properties in Perth. But is it really as simple as a shortage of houses being listed for sale? We’ve taken a closer look at REIWA research to give you the answer. Firstly when talking about listings there are two categories.
1. New Listings. Properties that have recently become available for sale.
2. Active / Advertised Listings. The number of properties being advertised.
According to recent data, the total number of active listings on reiwa.com at the end of the week ending on 1 September was 5,131. To give you some context, active listings are much lower than they were at the same time in 2022 – about 38.6% lower. And about 66% lower than the average between 2015 – 2019.
But, this doesn’t necessarily mean that home owners are hesitant to sell causing a shortage. We need to look at how many new properties are coming onto the market as well.
The number of new listings is only down by about 7.5% compared to last year and about 12% compared to 2021. However when we look at the three years before COVID-19, new listings are actually up by about 13.2%. So, it seems that historically numbers are trending comparably.
So then why are active listings still low? The answer is demand.
Sales have been consistently higher than new listings since April. Properties are simply selling very quickly. It took a median of 10 days to sell a house in August, unchanged from July and eight days faster than a year ago. Pre-COVID in a balanced market the median would sit around 40 days.
In summary the Perth property market is active and evolving quickly. New listings are still coming in at a steady rate, but active listings remain low because homes are selling in record breaking time. So, if you’re thinking about selling, now could be a good time if your property is well-priced, presented nicely, and well-promoted. Whilst demand in the market is strong, it is still important to put in the effort to properly preparing your home for sale, because that effort could add another 3%, 7% or even 15% to your selling price.
For tips on how to prepare your home to achieve the best selling result download our FREE eBook below.
With properties moving quickly, we’ve shared some more tips on buying in this market in this blog post here.
Source: REIWA and Corelogic
