I would be inclined to believe your friend. I think that areas like Stirling have been hit harder because they are newish developments in older areas but the older areas were nothing fancy in the first place (if that makes sense). Whereas somewhere like South Perth or Como a 1.2 million house is still roughly worth what it was five years ago because the area has always been desirable.
It’s still an interesting time in the Perth market. I follow a few areas quite closely, mainly houses in Guildford/Helena Valley and 3 bedroom villa type things in South Perth/Como/Manning areas. In Guildford and Helena Valley there is almost no stock coming on to market because things are so quiet. Things still sell, but they have to be very keenly priced or else they just don’t move, and because sellers don’t want to take a hit they are staying put. We bought in Helena Valley 16 months ago for 585 (almost new house) and I reckon it would now be worth about 530-540. Our neighbor put their house on 6 months ago for 600 but they were dreaming. No interest at all and they went down to 570 but still no interest. It would probably sell for about 530 now but is off the market. That is why I would never build new- 600 is probably them just recouping costs.
In South Perth and Como things have definitely come down. Nice 3 bedroom villas/townhouses that were going for say 700 a few years ago are now going in the 600 range. They represent good value to me. Great location in Perth with good schools and less riff raff. Obviously better for couples than families but they still have a bit of a backyard and everything is easy to get to.
