This week's property round-up

Despite last weekend’s inclement weather, REIWA members reported a 9% increase in sales for the week ending 23 June which may also reflect a small flurry of end of financial year activity.

The increase sales also flowed through to a drop in listings. Increased houses sales (10%), particularly north of the river (+12%) pushed the overall figure (700) above the lower weekly average activity level since Easter (650) and back to the pre- Easter average (702) level.

The drop in average activity since Easter despite the May rate cut is reflected the latest reading of consumer sentiment in WA and in particular the “time to buy dwelling” in WA. The June reading of sentiment in WA by the Westpac – Melbourne Institute pushed firmly back into pessimistic territory whilst the ‘time to buy a dwelling” sits around 100 for a third month after a 31% fall between February and April.

The continuing 1-2% weekly lift in rental listings over the past three months is now being reflected in the latest preliminary vacancy rate figure of 4.9% for the three months to May.