February 13, 2020 by Rebecca Crommelin
This new year has well and truly kicked off - I mean, how is it already February?! Luckily, Phil's Property Corner, written by Phil Bertram from Candour Property Group, will help ease your New Year woes and get you up to date on all the latest property news! Check it out below.
Perth’s property market was stable on all fronts in January, the median price consistent at $480,000 with sales activity 2% lower than December. It was very much a similar tale for the median rental price, continuing to remain at $350 per week, however rental activity was up significantly by 26%. REIWA’s monthly video report can be found here.
Whilst sales activity overall is fairly subdued there are pockets where activity is increasing and average days to sell are reducing. 2019 data showed that the average number of days to sell in Perth was 84, however the top 10 suburbs were around half this amount of time. Wembley heads up the list, with buyers also very keen on Heathridge, West Leederville, Carine, White Gum Valley and Nedlands. Of the top 10 suburbs on this list, seven increased their median sale price over the course of the year. If you feel like reading some more information on this you can see the WAToday article here.
CoreLogic has once again shown a small increase in Perth property prices over the month of January of 0.1 per cent, this again was not reflected in the REIWA figures. However, REIWA’s President Damian Collins, has recently gone on the record to say that there is good feedback coming through from real estate agents. Many are reporting that good quality homes are being purchased quicker and figures show that the amount sellers are discounting has reduced to 6.4 per cent. Around 30% of sales in January occurred below the $350,000 price point, he suggests this may be a result of first home buyers making the most of the lower interest rates. You can read the full PerthNow article here.
The First Home Loan Deposit Scheme launched in January 2020 and released the first 10,000 scheme places - 5,000 to major banks (CBA and NAB) and another 5,000 though 25 non-major lenders. All of the 5,000 major bank scheme places have been reserved by purchasers, however there are still places available through the non-major lenders. If you’re looking at purchasing your first home and you’re not sure what this scheme is all about you can read all the details here. In short, this scheme is a new initiative from the Federal Government which enables first home buyers to purchase a property for as little as 5% by guaranteeing some of the deposit required.
If you’d like to talk through how this might apply to you the first step is to get in touch with your broker or with Phil Bertram. There is no obligation to proceed any further than you’re comfortable with and he doesn’t charge for his time. All strategies are implemented in tandem with your Mortgage Choice Mortgage Broker.
To arrange for Phil to call you please email him with your name and contact number on phil@candourproperty.com.au and he’ll be in touch.
