WESTERN AUSTRALIA
STANDOUT LOCATION:
4 Rockingham:
The suburb is the designated centre for government infrastructure in south Perth. Rockingham LGA offers affordable suburbs – most with median house prices in the $300,000s – beside the bay and close to some of Perth’s biggest jobs nodes. With first homebuyers busy in Perth, this precinct will thrive in 2021.
2020 reviewed
City of Melville: The suburbs of Melville epitomised the beginnings of the Perth revival in the second half of 2020, with vacancies below 1% in many postcodes and suburbs like Applecross, Leeming, Melville and Willagee recording moderate price growth.
It’s been a long time between up-cycles for Perth but its time is near. The second half of 2020 showed signs of uplift, with vacancies low, upward pressure on rents, sales activity increasing and early indications of a return to growth.
Property markets are being boosted by improvements in the WA economy, with the resources sector rising and a growing list of big infrastructure projects in Perth.
First homebuyers have high levels of support and this cohort is leading the Perth revival. There have been notable increases in buying activity in outer-ring areas such as the municipalities of Wanneroo, Rockingham and Armadale.
Solid middle-market areas, including the municipalities of Melville, Stirling and Joondalup, are poised for good growth in 2021.
The latter part of last year saw evidence of regional areas south of Perth, notably Mandurah, joining the nationwide affordable lifestyle trend. There were also signs of improvement in Bunbury, Busselton and Margaret River.
Regional resources centres like Port Hedland and Karratha have continued to grow their prices after finding the bottom of the trough in 2018, with still some way to go to reach the crazy levels of the previous mining investment boom. A new resources boom is building, likely to be boosted by the big infrastructure spend planned by state and federal governments, so prices in these centres will show further recovery.