Perth housing lot sales remain steady

Land sales in Perth remained fairly steady in the March quarter, sliding just 1.7 per cent from the previous quarter, according to data from the Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) (WA).
Sales of lots in the Perth metropolitan region totalled 1,168 - 20 lots fewer than were sold in the December quarter.
However, the overall sales trend since December 2006 has been down, with the exception of a 49.7 per cent spike in activity in June last year.
For the March quarter, the average lot price in Perth was $299,409, dropping more than 25 per cent over the three month period.
However, the sale of a number of premium coastal lots in Cockburn, which pushed the suburb's average to $981,517 last quarter, was blamed for inflating the overall average price.
The March quarter average price was down 3.8 per cent on last year's September quarter.
Suburbs with positive price growth included Wanneroo (7.7 per cent) and Mandurah (7.2 per cent), while prices in Cockburn and Kwinana fell, by 55.6 per cent and 13.2 per cent, respectively.

An announcement from the UDIA WA is pasted below:

Despite raging debate on how the Perth property market has slumped, the Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) WA has released figures showing that the Perth market remains steady with continued demand for land ensuring healthy sales activity.
"The number of lots sold for the March 2008 quarter is only down by 1.7% on the December quarter", UDIA CEO Debra Goostrey said. "This is certainly not a statistic that reflects a major slow down in the market."
Prices also remain steady with the average price of lots sold in Perth reaching $299,409.
"The average price of land across the metro area for the last 12 months has generally remained around the $280,000 - $300,000 mark," Mrs Goostrey said.
"The average price of lots is only down 3.8% on the September 2007 quarter and up 7% on the June 2007 quarter."
Mrs Goostrey advised that now is a good time to buy, with more lots on the market this quarter (2212) compared to previous quarters.
"At the moment, with a good supply of land on the market, developers are offering a range of value for money land packages with special offers including landscaping packages, stamp duty rebates and cash rebates."
"UDIA recommends consumers do their homework and purchase from a reputable land
developer in order to get the best chance of a good return on investment."
"One area that continues to show strength is the City of Wanneroo which time and again
records the highest number of land sales in the metro area and has experienced a steady 4% growth in prices over the last 12 months."