It goes without saying, 2019 got pretty rough for those in Real Estate. Whether directly related or not, outside forces such as a banking royal commission, the federal election and low consumer confidence dealt some damage to the industry. However, not one to rest on their laurels, REIWA launched a six-point plan to get the WA economy back on track, with some of the points being met instantly. Within weeks, we were introduced to the First Home Loan Deposit scheme, and Perth was reintroduced into the Regional Migration Scheme. In other promising news, the end of 2019 showed a mid-year budget review that expects the WA economy to grow by three per cent in 2019-20! If that’s not enough to stir excitement, then came the new year…
Like most new-year stats, much of the early 2020 optimism has come from activity throughout the back end of last year. Last month, reiwa.com data showed the last three months of 2019 had a days-on-market average of only 67 days! 16 days faster than the July-September quarter and the lowest since December 2017! If that seems a little too broad, that same data also showed 113 suburbs experiencing a stable or increased median price at the end of last year, so there’s a good chance your own place is climbing as well.
What’s also great about these latest numbers, is that many of them represent huge milestones and drought-breakers rather than just the small spikes and increases we’ve gotten used to celebrating. Another example being the Domain House Price Report released in late January, which showed a back-to-back quarterly increase in house prices for the first time in SIX YEARS.
At the moment, we’re certainly in an interesting position. The numbers are showing recovery, consumer confidence is on the rise, but houses remain affordable. We can only hope this combination produces results!