WA property confidence second highest in Aus

Despite Perth’s house prices continuing to fall, confidence in Western Australia’s property industry is now the second highest of any state or territory, according to a new survey.

The ANZ Banking Group/Property Council of Australia survey for the September 2019 quarter shows confidence in WA hitting 134 index points, up from 125 in the June quarter.

Only South Australia ranks higher than WA now.

Property Council WA executive director Sandra Brewer said this was good news for a sector the state relied on to create jobs and economic activity.

“Across the board, the results from this survey paint an encouraging picture of the outlook for property in WA,” she said.

“Our run of four quarters of declining confidence has come to an end, and all the key indicators are now pointing back in the right direction.

“This is likely driven in large by a complete reversal in industry’s expectations of the availability of debt finance for the year ahead.

“In WA, this swung from a June quarter net balance of -11.6 index points to be positive 11 in the September index, with similar results seen around the country.”

The quarter three 2019 survey was conducted online between May 28 and June 14, and included 980 respondents.

It comes just days after CoreLogic’s quarterly 'Pain & Gain' report showed Perth created $145 million in loss-making resales, making up the highest proportion nationally of 24.8 per cent.

Earlier this month, CoreLogic also revealed that Perth house prices fell by 0.7 per cent to around $440,000 for June, the largest amongst state capitals.