On Tuesday, the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia (REIWA) reported that both sales activity and median house price in Regional Western Australia improved over the September quarter.
The overall regional median climbed 7.8% to $345,000, while overall sales hiked by 1.2%.
“It’s the first time this year we’ve seen overall sales activity and median house price improve simultaneously in regional WA. The results of the September quarter are very promising and suggest a recovery is not too far away,” said REIWA President Damian Collins.
“Pleasingly, regional WA’s overall median house price also held up well on an annual basis, with the September 2018 quarter median three per cent higher than the September 2017 quarter.”
With Albany in the lead, five of regional WA’s 11 regional centres had either stable or increased medians.
“Albany was the top performing regional centre during the quarter, with its median lifting from $339,000 to $430,000 – a 26.8 per cent increase. It also experienced an improvement on an annual basis, with its median price now 17.5 per cent higher than last year’s September quarter median,” Collins noted.
“There was a shift in the composition of sales in Albany during the September 2018 quarter, with significantly more activity occurring above $350,000 than there previously has been, and fewer sales occurring below $350,000, which is where the bulk of activity has typically occurred in this region,” he added
Completing the list of regional centres that saw hikes in median price were Busselton (up 9.8%), Bunbury (up 1.9%) and Geraldton/Greenough (up 1.8%), while Broome’s median house price was stable.
In terms of sales activity, six of regional WA’s 11 regional centres generated an increase in sales during the quarter.
The positive result was headlined by Broome, which saw the biggest jump in sales growth. It recorded 20 sales in the June 2018 quarter to 38 sales in the September quarter, making a 90% increase.
Tracking a similar trend was Port Hedland in the Pilbara. Its sales were up 51.7% on the June quarter and transactions totalled to 91. On the other hand, nearby regional centre Karratha also recorded 91 sales, up 23% on last quarter.
“The Pilbara region remains one to watch, with the announcement of three new mining projects in the region by BHP, Rio Tinto and FMG going a long way to restoring confidence in the area. With 20,000 new local jobs expected to be created as a result of these projects, this should support population growth in the region, improve demand for housing in the area and aid recovery,” said Collins.
Also included in the list of regional centres with improved sales were Geraldton/Greenough (up 31.8%), Kalgoorlie/Boulder (up 26.8%) and Mandurah/Murray (up 8.5%). Albany’s sale activity, meanwhile, was stable.
While effects of the market slowdown are still apparent, Collins underscored that the September quarter is likely to end the worst period for Regional WA, not to mention that a number of regional centres have been slowly rebounding.
