Survey reveals Perth's best locations to buy

Perth’s inner suburbs have predictably been revealed as the most desirable locations for apartment buyers, with a new survey also uncovering the locations where people would most like to build a new home or buy an established house.

By Dan Wilkie

| 20-8-2020 | Residential | 3 min read

South Perth's proximity to the CBD and its leafy streets make it a desirable destination. Photo: Shutterstock (Image source: Shutterstock.com)

The latest edition of the Urbis/Urban Development Institute of Australia Home Purchaser Sentiment Survey showed near-city suburbs such as East Perth, Perth, South Perth and Applecross led the top 10 suburbs for people interested in living in apartments.

Urbis director of economics David Cresp said the apartments list largely correlated with high amenity suburbs that were also popular with developers.

“They are areas that are highly accessible to employment hubs and the CBD, and they are areas that have got a high amount of natural open space, cafes and restaurants,” Mr Cresp told Australian Property Investor Magazine.

“They are very high amenity locations and close to public transport.

“That list does make a lot of sense, yes that’s where the supply is, but the supply is there because that’s where people are buying.”

For medium density dwellings such as townhouses or villas, the top 10 was similarly predictable, with Fremantle, Leederville, City Beach and Doubleview garnering the most interest.

But the survey, for which respondents were asked to take their own financial situations into account, threw up a few surprises in which suburbs would be best to build or buy a detached house in, as well as the top suburbs where people said they would buy again.

In the established market, South Perth, North Perth, Mount Lawley, and Duncraig topped the list of where people would like to buy, while Yokine, Alkimos, Canning Vale and Floreat were the top locations for those keen to build.

For ‘sticky' suburbs, where respondents said they would buy again, Canning Vale, South Perth, Willetton, Claremont and Gosnells topped the list, with the far northern suburb of Alkimos a surprise entry at 9 in the buy again list.

“Some of those newer areas, like Canning Vale and Alkimos, would be people that bought into master planned communities and highlighted the good work that those developers have done of creating communities and creating places,” Mr Cresp said.

The Urbis/UDIA survey also took a gauge of market sentiment, with positivity increasing to be largely in line with general confidence in Sydney prior to the pandemic.

"It’s interesting to see that overall we are about as positive as the Sydney market was before COVID, which was on a property upswing," Mr Cresp said.

"For us to have been five years into a market downturn, to see that level of positivity was good, and was something unexpected."

Mr Cresp said the survey was done shortly after HomeBuilder and the WA state government’s $20,000 Building Boost were announced, with the combined grants greatly affecting sentiment.

That positive sentiment has translated into sales, however, mainly from first homebuyers.

There were a record 3,322 lots sold in the June quarter in the Perth metropolitan area, and developers have tripled their future supply pipeline in response to demand.

Urbis’ Urban Development Index showed there were 2,785 lots set to be released to market across Perth within the next six months, up from a future pipeline of 868 blocks before the grants were announced.

While first homebuyers are buoyant, largely thanks to the $69,440 on offer through combining various government grants and incentives, owner occupiers and investors are not as uplifted.

The Urbis/UDIA survey showed just 14 per cent of owner occupiers and 7 per cent of investors were likely to buy property in the next six months.

“There is a recognition that property prices may shrink a little bit in the short-term, people are saying that prices might be lower in the next six months, but generally there is an expectation that in the next 18 months property prices will be higher than they are now,” Mr Cresp said.

“For investors to come back to the market, what they really want to see is capital growth, they’re not buying for a rental income in most instances.

“So what they want to see is the market actually turning the corner and starting to show some solid signs that it really is in recovery mode - at least six to nine months of positive returns in median house prices.”

Top 10 Perth suburbs for apartment buyers