Perth’s blistering house price gains end summer with a whimper

Melbourne and Hobart are outpacing Perth in property value growth with house price gains slowing sharply to just 0.1 per cent over the quarter in the west according to the latest CoreLogic Home Value Index.

CoreLogic’s latest Home Value Index released on Monday showed the median house price is now $840,400 while units outperformed houses lifting 2 per cent over the quarter to hit a new median high of $592,417.

The best performing area was Swan, which recorded 20 per cent growth in dwellings (houses and units) over the year to hit a median of $759,869. It was followed by Kwinana (up 18.6 per cent to $649,613), Mundaring (up 18.4 per cent to $807,832) and Bayswater-Bassendean (up 17.4 per cent to $855,771).

CoreLogic executive research director Tim Lawless said its national Home Value Index posted a 0.3 per cent rise in February, breaking the short and shallow downturn that lasted just three months.

He said the mid-sized capitals of Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide had lost their mantle as the strongest growth markets.

“With a monthly change of 0.2 per cent to 0.3 per cent, the mid-sized capitals were outpaced by Melbourne and Hobart,” he said.

“Adelaide and Brisbane are still leading rolling quarterly growth trends, up 1.2 per cent and 0.9 per cent respectively, but Perth’s value growth has slowed more sharply with downward revisions over recent months dragging the quarterly change to just 0.3 per cent.”

Buyers looking to Perth to purchase a home are still facing a dearth of stock available for sale with listings down 28 per cent relative to the previous five-year averages.

Lawless said low levels of newly built housing should lead to rising housing values in 2025.