Perth property experienced either a 0.1% increase or a 0.1% decrease in February, depending upon which Property monitoring agency you prefer to follow – newcomer PropTrack (owned by realestate.com.au) or industry veterans CoreLogic.
Either way, the movement is minimal, demonstrating that conditions remain steady in the local market. What was interesting though was the rate of the slowdown in price falls nationally, with Sydney recording a minor upswing. Stock levels there have dropped by 20%, which is likely contributing to the stabilisation, but how long-lived it remains to be seen.
Debates around interest rates and the performance of the national economy continue to dominate the headlines. And while we pay attention to it, we also take the predictions with a grain of salt. What’s important to us is what we see happening at the ground level, and at the moment, stock levels in Perth’s inner north remain low, particularly when it comes to houses, and buyer demand remains consistent.
That’s not to say there hasn’t been an impact from interest rate rises. Buyers borrowing capacity is now reduced and consumer sentiment is subdued, but people will always need to move, and more cautious and circumspect decision-making when it comes to buying and selling isn’t a bad thing.
We do worry about the developing housing shortage and how that’s going to play out over the coming months, particularly in the rental market. While we don’t offer property management yet at Red Fox, it hasn’t stopped prospective tenants desperate for accommodation from emailing us to see if we can help. We hope that the State Government heeds the current conditions in its decision-making on the Tenancy Act reforms expected this year. There are enough landlords leaving the market already.
