Perth Property

Originally posted by goodie ↑

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.

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Just read your comments goodie and can agree completely.

The market is still depressed and with banks being more cautious across the board thanks to excessive price rises in Sydney and Melbourne, I cannot see any appreciation in values over the next year at least in WA.

Good buying opportunities will prevail throughout 2018 for the long term.

I am aware of many older apartments in particular even in South Perth and Como which are selling below pp 10 years ago.
One in Mill Point Road, a 2 bed, one bath renovated apartment in a block of 8 sold after a long time for $275,000. It was purchased 10 years ago for $385,000. There are many examples such as this.

Another block of older apartments in SP that were purchased for $1,550,000 11 years ago plus reno cost etc say $1,750,000 all up cannot attract an offer of $1.4m. As I said there are many examples of a very depressed market.
IMO, this is the worst recession WA has seen in many decades.

For further recessionary evidence, I counted 20 shop vacancies between Colin St and Thomas Road in West Perth (Subway and Croissant Express even closed down). The 3 story West Centre in WP is completely vacant. A number of office businesses have relocated into the CBD in view of the vast oversupply there where owners are offering huge incentives such as 5 years rent free, fit out, relocation costs etc.

Times are tough. They will improve naturally in time but it's a guessing game as to over what period.