Housing affordability declines, but WA remains affordable to buy and rent: REIA

Mar 14, 2023, 16:46 PM

Interest rates are starting to bite, with housing affordability declining across the country. Despite this, WA remains one of the most affordable places to buy a home.

Title : Housing affordability declines, but WA remains affordable to buy and rent: REIA

Cta title :

Cta button text :

Cta external link url :

News date : Mar 15, 2023, 00:00 AM

Interest rates are starting to bite, with housing affordability declining across the country.

Despite this, WA remains one of the most affordable places to buy a home.

In WA the proportions of median family income* needed to make loan repayments** rose 2.3 percentage points to 33.8 per cent in the December 2022 quarter. This is up from 31.5 per cent in the September quarter and 25.3 per cent in the December 2021 quarter.

Only the Northern Territory was more affordable, with home owners there needing 32.2 per cent of their income to meet loan repayments.

Once again New South Wales mortgage holders fared the worst. They required a massive 54.8 per cent of their median weekly income to meet their mortgage commitments.

This will have increased further as there have been two interest rate rises since then.

Perth's Top 10 most affordable suburbs

Suburb	Annual Sales	Annual Median Price
Armadale	353	$310,000
Medina	75	$312,500
Camillo	107	$335,000
Mandurah	210	$345,000
Calista	33	$349,000
Brookdale	57	$350,000
Parmelia	134	$350,000
Coodanup	93	$351,500
Orelia	81	$360,000
Midland	103	$365,000
Midvale	32	$365,000

Based on suburbs with 27 or more sales in the year to February 2023, subject to revision.

Data sources: www.reiwa.com.au; Landgate

Loan activity

The number of home loans in WA declined slightly over the quarter, down to 10,535 from 10,701 in the September quarter. This is likely a reflection of the usual decline in lower sales activity over the festive season.

First home buyer loans also decreased over the quarter, down 4.8 per cent to 3,802, which is 28.8 per cent lower than a year ago.

They made up 36.1 per cent of WA’s owner occupier market.

Rental affordability

There was a glimmer of hope for tenants in a number of States, with rental affordability improving.

It decreased marginally in WA however, with the proportion of income required to meet median rent payments rising 0.6 percentage points to 20.4 per cent in the December 2022 quarter. This is an increase of 1.3 percentage points from the same time in 2021.

Despite the increase, WA was the second most affordable place for tenants, with Victoria taking the honours.

Tenants in Tasmania were the hardest hit, requiring 28.7 per cent of their family income to meet rent payments, however this is down from the 30.1 per cent recorded for the September quarter.

Perth’s top 10 cheapest suburbs for rent

Suburb	No. of leases Dec-Feb 2023	Median Rent Price Dec-Feb 2023
Armadale	72	$400
Mandurah	53	$400
Parmelia	22	$435
Orelia	18	$420
Midland	59	$400
Maylands	130	$400
Osborne Park	36	$405
Kelmscott	26	$415
Mosman Park	54	$420
Kenwick	16	$465
Leda	14	$465

Houses and units, filtered for suburbs with 14 or more leases in the three month period.

Data sources: www.reiwa.com.au; Landgate

* Median weekly family income $2,423

** Average monthly loan repayment $3,552

contenttypes : News

topics :

Housing affordability
Perth

audiences :

Experienced buyer
First home buyer
Renter

Young couple standing in kitchen playing with young child. Mother is holding her pregnant stomach while the father is playing with young boy.

Cta linked page :

The Default Static The Default Static

Housing affordability declines, but WA remains affordable to buy and rent: REIA

Perth Market Snapshot for the week ending 3 July 2022

Upgrade test

When is it a good time to buy?

Other dwellings record strongest price growth in Perth during March 2025

REIWA named top corporate volunteer at 2023 WA Volunteer of the Year Awards

Upgrade test new new

Escape in style: 10 indulgent holiday homes for your next getaway

Upgrade test again [QA]

Upgrade test again

REIWA’s tax time toolkit: Managing your deductions

News

TEST PAGE