By Hayden Groves
REIWA President | REIA Deputy President
Want more property info? Email me hayden@dgre.com.au for your free REIWA Suburb Report
The September quarter numbers from the Real Estate Institute of WA reveal house sale numbers continued to slide throughout the Perth area with the numbers of houses changing hands 28 per cent below that experienced in the same quarter a year ago.
Median house prices have begun to trend downwards too, with Perth’s median house price for the quarter falling a 4.1 per cent and apartments down 2.3 per cent. Changes in the composition of sales changed dramatically with fewer transactions in the above $550,000 bracket than last quarter with more than 63 per cent of all sales now less than this figure.
Fremantle’s median house price took a hit down 2.4 per cent for the quarter across all suburbs. Postcode 6160 itself dropped by 2.4 per cent for the quarter. Beaconsfield and East Fremantle were the only local suburbs to grow during the quarter both up 1 per cent, each suburb improving by 2.7 and 4.5 per cent over the past twelve months. For the year, White Gum Valley grew 3.7 per cent, Hilton moved up 1.8 per cent and South Fremantle nudged up 0.4 per cent to a median of $960,000. Remaining suburbs fell.
Fremantle’s 231 apartment sales for the year showed an improvement in median price of 5.2 per cent suggesting a further gentrification of Fremantle’s apartment market with a median price of $610,000. East Fremantle apartments returned a yearly median of $655,000, up 23.1 per cent on last year thanks to new developments beginning to settle.
Seller sentiment in and around Fremantle deteriorated over the past twelve months with a 4 per cent gap in listing price and selling price up from 3.1 per cent twelve months earlier. 38 per cent of all sellers need to discount from their original list price to sell. Noteworthy is rising stock levels up 15.4 per cent from last year but listings dropped by 13.2 per cent for the September quarter indicating stock levels may have peaked in June. It takes an average of 57 days to sell in and around Fremantle up four days on last year’s numbers.
The residential rental market continues to be pressured by falling rents and above average supply. Locally, Fremantle’s rental market has levelled off with rents falling a further 5.1 per cent in the September quarter leaving rents 5 per cent per cent behind on last year. Thankfully, stock levels are stabilising falling 10.3 per cent for the quarter, as leasing improved 2.4 per cent for the quarter, however rental listings are still 28 per cent higher than a year ago. On average it takes 45 days to find a tenant for a Fremantle property, 16 days longer than a year ago.
Overall, the stats point to a flat market for 2016 with smooth, more predictable conditions for buyers, sellers, tenants and landlords.