PRICES
Regional Western Australia concluded the fiscal year 2023/24 with a geometric mean house price of $494,594. Notably, it’s the only state where regional house prices experienced a decrease over the past decade. Starting at $358,219 in 2014/15, prices dropped to a low of $295,037 in 2018/19. However, over the following five years, prices rebounded, increasing by 67.6 per cent to their current peak. In fact, the state exhibited the highest 12-month growth rate at 16.5 per cent, indicating a significant recovery. Despite this recent growth, the decline in the first half of the decade has resulted in regional Western Australia having the lowest 10-year price growth among all states.
SALES
Sales trends in regional Western Australia have shown substantial fluctuation. Between 2019/20 and 2021/22, sales jumped by 79.6 per cent, peaking at 11,743 transactions. However, over the last two years, sales dropped by 23.0 per cent, ending the last fiscal year with 9,193 transactions. This pattern of sales activity bears similarity to the trends observed in regional Queensland and regional South Australia. The first half of the decade was largely uneventful for regional Western Australia in terms of sales, with significant changes occurring only in recent years.
The five most populous SA3s in regional Western Australia are Bunbury, Albany, Augusta - Margaret River, Wheat Belt - North, and Mid West.
Bunbury stands out with a population of 114,446, nearly double the size of the other SA3s on the list. Located 175 km south of Perth, Bunbury is Western Australia’s third-largest city and a major port. Consequently, it also commands the bulk of sales in the region, with 2,120 transactions representing 23 per cent of all regional Western Australia transactions. Bunbury’s geometric mean house price at the end of 2023/24 was $519,582.
Albany, the second most populous SA3 with 65,218 residents, is a coastal city 418 km southeast of Perth. Despite serving as an important regional centre for the Great Southern region, the coastal city had the lowest number of sales with just 874 transactions in the last fiscal year. Similarly, the major tourist destination of Augusta - Margaret River, with a population of 62,470, recorded only 957 transactions in 2023/24. Both areas experienced a challenging decade. In the last 12 months alone, Albany’s transactions fell by 16.5 per cent, and Augusta - Margaret River’s dropped by 18.5 per cent. Albany’s geometric mean house price is $529,445, while Augusta - Margaret River, the most expensive SA3 on the list, has a geometric mean house price of $863,572.
Wheat Belt - North is the most affordable area among the five, with a geometric mean house price of $380,990. This large inland region east of Perth is part of Western Australia’s agricultural heartland, primarily focused on grain production and sheep farming. It recorded 1,106 transactions in 2023/24, marking a 44.2 per cent increase from 10 years ago and a 65.3 per cent increase from five years ago.
Mid West, a large region north of Perth stretching from the coast to inland areas, had a geometric mean house price of $410,120. It grew the least in terms of price among the five SA3s, with a 10-year price growth of only 26.9 per cent. Conversely, its transactions grew the most over the last decade, with a 10-year growth of 60.2 per cent, peaking at 1,232 transactions.
Both price and sales trends across the five major SA3s mirror those of the state as a whole, with growth over the last five years surpassing that of the past 10 years. Collectively, these five SA3s represent 68 per cent of all regional Western Australia transactions.