WESTERN AUSTRALIA
STANDOUT LOCATION:
Joondalup precinct: As the Perth market recovers, one of the standout precincts is the cluster of suburbs around the suburban regional centre of Joondalup, where infrastructure, lifestyle and affordability make an attractive package. Suburbs such as Edgewater, Joondalup and Duncraig will show growth.
2017 reviewed
Mandurah City: This time last year I wrote that “It’s unlikely that anywhere in WA will grow in 2017 … Mandurah may be among the first to recover but it’s unlikely to be in 2017.” Most suburbs in the Mandurah LGA saw prices fall 4%-5% in 2017. Given the recovery signs in Perth, 2018 may be better in this region.
Perth is recovering after four tough years and there are opportunities for investors, because prices are down, buyers are scarce and the future looks brighter. Hotspotting has charted a big turnaround in sales activity. For several years sales volumes fell, with property values following. But since mid-2017 we’ve seen many suburbs recording improved sales activity and now there is serious momentum in the market.
“The sentiment has changed,” says Tim Guest, of Infinite Wealth. “People are starting to feel a lot more positive.”
The Joondalup precinct in the north of the Perth metropolitan area looks particularly promising. It has education campuses, major medical services, government offices, a transport hub, good links to the Perth CBD, big retail facilities and plenty more. Many of the suburbs in this precinct are affordable.
Neighbouring Wanneroo is Perth’s leading growth LGA and is a magnet to young buyers (in suburbs like Clarkson, Carramar and Banksia
Grove). Other affordable precincts around Perth include Forrestfield in the east, Armadale in the far southeast and the coastal precinct around Rockingham in the far south.
Re-emerging middle-market areas are headed by the Stirling LGA (suburbs such as Innaloo, Gwelup and Doubleview) and the Melville LGA (Bicton, Leeming and Kardinya).
Some investors are showing renewed interest in the resources-related towns, because prices are a fraction of their peak levels at a time when the resources sector is recovering and hiring again.
Popular targets, as in the boom times, are Port Hedland and Karratha. But investors need to be very cautious. Prices won’t return to the massive levels of the past any time soon and those markets will always be volatile.