Perth outperforms states on CPI

THE days when our city was considered a relatively inexpensive place to live are fading fast, with Perth’s consumer price index reaching a 4.8 per cent year on year growth to the September quarter, second only to Darwin (4.9 per cent). The CPI rose 1.1 per cent in the quarter, driven largely by housing, and remains above the national average rate of growth for the tenth consecutive quarter. House purchases contributed 0.29 percentage points of the 1.1 per cent, which is more than ten times the relative contribution of housing purchases nationally. Food was also a major contributor, with the rising cost of fruit wreaking the most damage (0.21 percentage points).