2017 – The Year That’s Been in Perth Property

With 2018 well on the way, I thought I’d recap the year that’s been in Perth property in 2017 from on the ground. My perspective on the market as a property buyers agent is from:

• speaking with my buyer clients,
• visiting home opens every weekend, and
• getting a real sense of seller sentiment as I negotiate deals with the seller’s agents.

With a clear, overall decline in values since 2014, 2017 continued to be a challenging year working in Perth real estate with sentiment continuing to be subdued as the APRA lending changes took bite, however there was a noticable lift in sentiment and activity in the final quarter of 2017. Anecdotally:

• there seemed to be more people at home opens,
• properties were selling more quick
• there was consistent competition for quality stock (in high demand and in limited supply locations)
• stock levels both for sale and for rent seemed to be well down
• sales volume data also showed an increase.

 

It seems that Perth has now gone through it’s decline phase in 2017, and the worst is now behind us.

For me, my property acquisitions service volume increased by 30% in terms of the number of properties I purchased in 2017 (compared to the very soft market of 2016), and there were noticeable increases in owner occupier purchases as well as increases in East Coast buyer clients. The majority of my clients were still made up of property investors looking to grow their wealth through property, and who saw an opportunity to buy at the low point of the Perth market – setting themselves up for the future.

On a personal note:

2017 was also filled with surprise and blessing as I was lucky enough to be named REIWA’s Buyers Agent of the Year 2017.  The REIWA Awards for Excellence are Western Australia’s premier awards aimed at acknowledging, encouraging and promoting professionalism in the Western Australian real estate industry.

I can now proudly say that I’m a 3 time recipient of this award!

It also means I’m off to NSW in March 2018 for the REIA National Awards for Excellence. Sydney here I come!

My 2017 year was also wrapped up in the most joyful way with the early arrival of my first child Harry just before Christmas!

2018 Outlook

If I had to predict what 2018 beholds in Perth property, I would generally say that it’s looking to be a steady and moderate improvement.

There are even current suburb stats showing very large increases in certain Perth suburbs, however I wouldn’t be expecting rapid growth in general. The year on year growth statistics are more an indicator of the composition of sales price in a suburb – as higher priced sales happen the middle number (median price) shifts up.

As with any capital city, there are markets within markets, as some suburbs perform better than others.

With careful research into growth drivers, and by looking for opportunities to proactively add value, I continue to spot the top deals of the year for my clients in 2018.