WHO would have thought a pandemic would prompt a positive real estate market turnaround, where most regions had been subdued for years?
The regional residential market has defied the odds as, according to the Real Estate Institute of WA (REIWA), eight of the State's nine regional centres experienced an increase in median sale price for the September 2020 quarter.
Karratha was the standout, with an increase of 8.1 per cent to $465,000.
REIWA president Damian Collins said after experiencing a lull in the market in recent years, it is pleasing to see not only the median price improve, but also listings for sale and sales volumes increase across many areas of regional WA.
"With the changing WA economy and the population growth we are seeing, we will see continued upward pressure on sales and rental values in our regional centres in the coming months," Mr Collins said.
A desire to leave higher populated areas, abandon overseas travel plans and inject money elsewhere, coupled with low interest rates, appear to have delivered some good news to the regional residential market.
Bunbury
Nutrien Real Estate Bunbury branch manager Steve Lloyd-Smith said the local market had remained stable during the months of the pandemic.
"There was a flood of properties under $400,000 that came to market in the early stages of the pandemic," Mr Lloyd-Smith said.
"Our belief is most of these were investment properties and many people felt uncertain as to the economic future and decided to sell.
"Unfortunately this created an over supply and lowing of average prices in the suburbs with high levels of rental properties."
However, as the State has somewhat recovered economically, the market has improved.
"We have seen an increase in buyer demand with a definite spike in Perth-based clients looking to either relocate or purchase an investment property," he said.
"We have found these buyers are looking for lifestyle properties up to 50 acres (20 hectares) or high-end residential properties."
Albany
Mason Realty director Rob Mason said the Albany market was rather strong prior to COVID-19 and it had intensified.
"The market was fairly strong pre-COVID, however there is no doubt we are in a much hotter market now," Mr Mason said.
"We saw internet activity spike during the intrastate travel restrictions - this has gradually turned into more activity and stronger demand."
Mason Realty specialises in mid to high-end home and small acreage properties in the Albany and Denmark regions, and the agency has seen a significant increase in buyer demand.
"We are seeing most of our buyers coming from Perth, higher end properties close to the beach are often selling to farming families from the Great Southern, and we are also selling to expat Western Australians living in the Eastern States and to a lesser extent overseas," he said.
In-demand property types include heritage homes in Albany priced between $600,000-$800,000, near new homes in Middleton Beach between $900,000-$1.5 million, lifestyle properties around Denmark at $800,000-$2m and homes in Goode Beach (Albany) and Ocean Beach (Denmark), which Mr Mason said were all in demand with very little supply.
"Those properties in short supply are generally selling inside a week with even the higher-end (around $1.5m) selling within a few weeks," he said.
"Some of these properties would have taken months to sell last year."
Esperance
Thorp Realty director/principal Brett Thorp said the initial impact of COVID-19 was quite significant for Esperance, particularly given its isolation from other towns and cities.
"We had quite a few businesses close down and unfortunately some will likely remain closed as a result," Mr Thorp said.
"But the turning point for the market was when the (State and Federal) government's stimulus packages came through, coupled with rental availability which has been diminishing for the past couple of years - we lost quite a few rentals and they hadn't been replaced as there has been limited investment buying in the region.
"Also, the new legislation imposed on rental properties due to COVID-19 has likely made buying not a priority for investors."
While the stimulus packages saw a major increase in vacant land purchases, Mr Thorp said buyers have started to turn their attention to the established housing market.
"We have seen an increase in demand and sales," he said.
"But it is still a cautious market in regards to price.
"At first properties under the $400,000 mark were selling fast but now we have started to see an increase in the higher priced market."
