Perth Real Estate & Property Sales - MARKET UPDATE JUNE 2021

Perth Real Estate Sales News & Market Insights  |  24 June 2021

The cessation of Covid-related changes, including Job Keeper and Job Seeker payments, and the moratorium on rent increases, has seen the property market start to stabilise.

According to REIWA, stock levels in early February 2021 were approx. 7666, compared to 9026 today, signaling an end, or perhaps a pause, to the panic-driven sales seen in the first quarter of the year. Sales transactions began declining in April/May 2021; and we observed that the increase in stock levels was not commensurate with transaction volume.

The growth trajectory shows signs of levelling off in some suburbs, and more data will be available from REIWA in mid-July, to comment further on these observations. At this stage, it is reasonable to note that the subtle shift we have observed coincided with the end of the Government-imposed moratorium on rent increases and evictions, lenders re-instating regular mortgage payments, the end of Job Keeper payment and the boost to Job Seeker payment.

These factors, coupled with the sharp incline in values over the second and third quarters of the 20/21 financial year, has seen more stock come to market predominantly from landlords as a result of 'investor fatigue'.

It is likely that in the wake of property value falls between 2014 and 2019, many investors finally felt there was an opportunity to sell once levels had returned to a more palatable loss or a break-even position in some cases.

Therefore, the levelling off may be short term due to the high proportion of investor held stock. Given the recent low levels of international immigration, it is difficult to tease out where the pressure on housing availability is coming from in the longer term. However, it is likely to be from net interstate migration and ex-pats returning home.

The changes within the market raise the question of whether the slowing down of price growth is more a product of the above factors or that the market itself is starting to slow. End of financial year data will help clarify whether the factors mentioned above are responsible for stabilising the market, at which time we will be better placed to comment further.

In the meantime, please don't hesitate to contact Jonathan Marlow, Director of Sales Performance, on 0413 833 332 to discuss your unique circumstances.