Australian Property News

Market starting to pick up in WA

Posted on Tuesday, August 31 2010 at 8:41 AM

Property values in the West Australian property market have crept back up after falling substantially in recent years and things are expected to improve further, according to Metropole director Michael Yardney.

He says some investors have been disheartened by the market being flat, especially in some of the areas of WA that were predicted to be hotspots and haven't seen expected growth due to the industries they're reliant on (some are mining towns) and things happening in the wider economy.

Yardney notes that investors who got in at the beginning of the property cycle in WA, when all the fundamentals were right, did well but those who got in at the end of the cycle may have seen their properties drop in value.

Prices may have dropped up to 20 per cent in WA, notes Yardney, but they've crept back up now and they're expected to keep rising in the long term.

Yardney points out that it's important for investors to have a long-term strategy for property and that way they’re more likely to make money from it.

He says 90 per cent of investors never get past the first property because they buy wrong, don't do well and then never buy an investment property again.

If you make sure you get the right property then you can make that part of your long-term strategy, he says, noting that a strategy should be formulated by an investor as the first step before they buy.