Records have been broken in Perth's residential sector with the median price of a house reaching $480,000 in the December quarter, new figures from the Real Estate Institute of WA show.
Records have been broken in Perth's residential sector with the median price of a house reaching $480,000 in the December quarter, new figures from the Real Estate Institute of WA show.
The record were achieved in the metropolitan area along with the Geraldton-Greenough, Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Karratha and Port Hedland regions.
In Perth, the median price of a house climbed $5,000 on its previous high reached in December 2007 to $480,000.
"Perth has more than recovered all of its 12 per cent loss in median price experienced in 2008, with 14.3 per cent growth in the median house price for 2009," REIWA president Alan Bourke said.
The median price of units and apartments in the metropolitan area also reached a new high, climbing from the previous record of $392,000 achieved two years ago to $400,000.
Mr Bourke said demand in this section of the market grew 15.3 per cent in 2009, due in part to the surge in first home buyers who were encouraged by the boost in the federal government's grant.
The median price of land in Perth jumped nearly 18 per cent in the December quarter to $265,000, short of the $280,000 record reached in 2007.
Mr Bourke indicated the latest median land price was likely to moderate as more sales in the December quarter settle.
The average number of selling days fell by 10 to 54 days while there were about 10,400 properties on the market at the end of the December quarter compared to 12,800 in the previous quarter.
Some 13,100 properties changed hands during the quarter, down by 8 per cent on September, but not considered unusual given the slowdown into the Christmas holiday period.
"The other strong message from the December quarter is about rents. In good news for tenants, the vacancy rate of available properties remains high at 4.7 per cent and rents have remained stable as a result," Mr Bourke said.
"The median weekly rent has settled at $360 per week and has been at this level for more than a year."
Regionally, Karratha was the standout performer with the median house price jumping from $770,000 to a new record of $822,000 during the period.
In nearby Port Hedland, the median house price climbed from $615,000 to $685,000 while further south, house prices in Geraldton-Greenough reached a new record of $375,000.
In Kalgoorlie Boulder, the median price of a house increased from $345,000 to $350,000.
