WA house market sentiment gap widens

Western Australians are keen to buy new homes and investment properties, much moreso than in the rest of the country, but existing owners are unwilling to sell, a survey by National Australia Bank has found.

The NAB Special Insight report was based on a survey of 2,000 people.

It found 69 per cent of those surveyed in WA said now was not a good time to sell their house, the highest in the country, and 13 per cent above the national average.

In contrast, WA recorded the highest proportion who believe now is a good time to buy a home to live in, with 61 per cent keen to buy. In comparison the national figure was only 49 per cent.

West Australians were also the most posiitve when asked whether now was a good time to buy an investment property.

NAB chief economist Alan Oster said the home seller sentiment was broadly consistent across states, except for WA.

“We suspect this is influenced by the fact that some home owners in WA may also be sitting on capital losses,” Mr Oster said.

NAB also released its Residential Property Survey for the last quarter of 2018.

Property professionals surveyed forecast WA house prices will see a decline of 0.2 per cent this year, with a flat growth result anticipated for 2020.

New South Wales and Victoria are expected to see sharp falls in their house prices, while the remaining states will remain largely flat through 2019 and 2020.