By MOLLIE TRACEY
THERE have been further signs that the Perth residential property market is improving, although it has been a slow process.
For those seeking to invest in the Perth property market, despite slight improvement, conditions are still in buyers' favour.
But as with a typical buyer's market, it appears vendors are trying to put off selling until the climate shifts in their favour, which has made for fewer listings and a rather quiet market.
The long-term decline of the market appearing to have slowed for a second consecutive month suggests that the market is slowly making a recovery.
CoreLogic's April 2019 home value index results found that Perth dwelling values dropped by 0.4 per cent over the past month, which although is still in the negatives, is a significant improvement from -2.3pc for the quarter, -8.3pc annually and -18.1pc in five years.
Perth's improvement for the past year is almost on par with the other capital cities and also not far from the changes in the national market.
These latest figures have left Perth's median dwelling value at $440,546, which is the third lowest in the country, beating Darwin with $390,621 and Adelaide's $430,352.
The median dwelling value across the capital cities sits at $593,401 with the national figure being $519,879.
President of the Real Estate Institute of WA (REIWA) Damian Collins said the slowing down of what has been a rapidly declining Perth market, with March and April showing the most positive signs since June 2018, is encouraging in a challenging market.
"While we don't expect to see any notable price increases in the immediate future, price values look like they are starting to stabilise," Mr Collins said.
REIWA sales data showed that 24pc of suburbs across the metro area recorded an increase in median house sale price in April.
"Gosnells was the top performing suburb in April with its median sale price increasing 3.4pc during the month," he said.
"Other suburbs to record an improvement were Dudley Park, Scarborough, Marangaroo and Canning Vale."
The volume of properties on the market reduced by 3pc over the past month, suggesting that vendors are waiting to go to market until sale conditions improve.
"While these latest figures indicate we might be seeing the signs of recovery on the horizon, our local market is fragile," Mr Collins said.
"With the Federal election looming, REIWA remains concerned that any changes to national tax policies, like negative gearing and capital gains tax, will further stifle any green shoots of improvement that may be starting to emerge."