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Perth sales activity was up by 5 per cent for the last full week of action before many agents take a well-earned Christmas break.
The Real Estate Institute of Western Australia (REIWA) revealed that 969 transactions took place from 14 December to 20 December.
It attributed the activity increase to a 4 per cent rise in house sales, a 31 per cent rise in unit sales and a 21 per cent fall in vacant land sales.
Perhaps an indication of vendor anticipation for Christmas, there were 9,167 properties for sale in Perth as at 20 December — 4 per cent less than the week previously.
Breaking that figure down, house listings were down by 5 per cent, unit listings decreased by 3 per cent, while vacant land listing figures were also down, by 2 per cent.
Overall, it’s still been a quieter December than normal: last week’s total figure is 31 per cent lower than levels seen a year ago.
It’s also 10 per cent lower than November levels.
Meanwhile, rental listings in the Western Australian capital are continuing their decline.
The REIWA said its members had reported 2,723 properties for rent as at 20 December 2020.
It’s 11 per cent less than the previous week, and 5 per cent lower than levels seen in November, when REIWA had said that the city’s vacancy rate was the lowest vacancy rate level that the state body had seen over the last 40 years.
At the time, REIWA president Damian Collins said “with listings lowering to 2,889 in November, which is 52 per cent lower than the year prior, we are seeing upward pressure on rents with Perth’s median increasing by $10 in November to $390 per week”.
Mr Collins expressed it as “likely that we will reach the all-time low vacancy rate in early 2021”.
“However, once the market returns to normal at the end of the moratorium in March 2021, we can hope to see a return of investors to the market and tenants adjusting household size, which will help to balance the market,” he concluded.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Grace Ormsby
Grace is a journalist across Momentum property and investment brands. Grace joined Momentum Media in 2018, bringing with her a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Communication (Journalism) from the University of Newcastle. She’s passionate about delivering easy to digest information and content relevant to her key audiences and stakeholders.
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