Property drought in Perth

THE number of properties for sale in Perth has dropped to its lowest in seven years.

Real Estate Institute of WA figures show stock levels peaked in April 2011 with a glut of 18,200 properties for sale.

That figure dropped to only 9300 at the end of last year.

Experts say the properties were sold, withdrawn or taken into Perth's hot rental market.

Hegney Property Group executive chairman Gavin Hegney said any shift in stock availability of that number was abnormally large and could not be ignored."We've seen new demand over the past six months from first-home buyers who are mostly moving out of family homes,'' Mr Hegney said.

"We're also seeing new demand from investors now and that will further reduce the market.''

Mr Hegney said the market was changing somewhat to favour sellers, though both buyers and sellers were more confident in the present conditions.

He said ultimately prices would start to rise in 2013.

REIWA president David Airey said seasonal factors could also contribute to stock levels and after the Christmas-New Year hiatus, listings were already starting to return.

"Many sellers will remove their properties from market over the Christmas and new year period, simply because it's a quiet time and people are away,'' Mr Airey said.

"These sellers will generally relist in late January and we are seeing signs of that now,'' he said.

Mr Hegney said rising prices would lead to more properties coming on to the market.

"But I don't see it getting back to peak levels,'' he said.

REIWA lists the number of houses, units and land lots for sale this week at 9421.

The industry wisdom is that 12,000 properties for sale at any given time is a good balance between supply and demand in Perth.

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