The number of homes on the market has reached 14,000, while the number of rental properties increased to over 6,500.
Real Estate Institute of Western Australia president David Airey said the number of properties listed had jumped by 200 since the start of the year.
“With 6,500 rental properties available across the metropolitan area, that’s a 210 per cent increase since 2012 and has pushed the vacancy rate over 4 per cent,” he said.
High levels of house and unit construction accompanied by a fall in population growth has lead to the oversupply.
“Added to this is the big fall in the number of first home buyers choosing established homes and building new ones instead," said Airey.
“However, all this is great news for both buyers and tenants because it means there is a huge amount of choice and very competitive pricing.”
Perth’s median house price dipped by $5,000 last month to around $547,000, while metropolitan rents were holding steady at $440 per week.
“Along with record low interest rates, there has rarely been such a good time to buy and first home buyers continue to be active in the market place,” Airey said.
“With this large supply of homes for sale and rent, it’s likely we will see negligible price growth across 2015 and a fairly slow market for those selling property or looking for tenants.
Recent REIWA figures indicated that days on market for home sales had stretched to 67, compared to a more normal 45, while the number of sellers prepared to discount on their asking price was now 57%.
