Perth house prices drop $30,000

The median house price in Perth has fallen $30,000 down to around $446,000 in the past six months and the rental vacancy has returned to normal for the first time in several years, according to the data released today by the Real Estate Institute of WA.

Full announcement pasted below:

Data released today by the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia show that the Perth median
house price has dropped a further $14,000 since March, while the rental vacancy rate has returned
to normal for the first time in several years.
REIWA's preliminary results for the June quarter show a 3 per cent fall in median price, pulling the
metropolitan median down from $460,000 in March to around $446,000.
This follows the median price having peaked at the end of last year at $475,000.
REIWA President Rob Druitt said the post-boom market was still correcting but had now been hit by
the weaker consumer confidence in the overall economy, interest rate uncertainty and petrol
prices.
"Perth has experienced an overall slump of almost $30,000 in the median price since the beginning
of this year, and the June quarter shows that this slump is found right across the metropolitan area
and also that the regions have gone backwards a little too," Mr Druitt said.
REIWA data for June show that Mandurah dropped by 7 per cent, Greater Bunbury by 7 per cent,
Geraldton-Greenough by 9 per cent and Kalgoorlie by around 5 per cent.
Mr Druitt said the large number of properties for sale punctured the myth of a housing shortage.
"In WA we have a situation of oversupply - not a problem with undersupply, and this is due to the
strength of building activity between 2001 and 2007," he said.
There were 17,200 properties on the market in June (down 2 per cent on March), including 2,450
blocks of land.
Mr Druitt said the once tight vacancy rate for tenants had now returned to normal, with REIWA
recording a comfortable 3 per cent vacancy rate, illustrating many new properties had flooded into
the rental system as investor/owners now found it a difficult time to sell.
"For the first time in several years tenants should now find it much easier to find a suitable home.
There is much more stock available and much more competition amongst owners to secure good
tenants.
"However, rents did increase a little in the June quarter, lifting by $10 per week for houses to a
median of $350 per week, while units rose by $10 per week to a median of $320 per week," Mr
Druitt said.
"Given the large number of properties now being passed over into the rental system, it is
reasonable to expect that rental price growth will ease in the latter part of the year.
"Landlords need to be mindful of the changing conditions and not to price themselves out of the
market," Mr Druitt said.
The oversupply of housing is not restricted to the Perth market with both Mandurah and Bunbury
recording high stocks of listings along with healthy vacancy rates which have contributed to no
movement in rents in these regions during June.