While the bigger picture shows that the market is slowing in WA, some areas continue to boom.
After booming so furiously and for so long, WA slipped into the negative territory, with property values falling by 1.14% in Perth in the three months to July 2007.
Some suburbs out-performed the market however, with Port Hedland achieving 8.22% growth in the same period and a massive 26.57% growth year-on-year. South Lake and Denham achieved 7.87% and 7.12% growth respectively in the three months to July.
Real Estate Institute of WA (REIWA) president Rob Druitt says that the increase of first home buyers in the marketplace because of the State Government’s stamp duty reforms goes some way towards explaining the low growth.
"This surge in first homebuyer activity is seeing a much greater number of sales of properties at the more affordable end of the market, and this is having the effect of pulling the overall Perth median down a little," says Druitt, who predicts a return to positive growth in the latter half of the September quarter.
However, he also warns that possible further interest rate rises “and the shakeout of global financial markets in recent days may undermine both affordability and consumer confidence for those looking to enter the housing market.”