Title :Records tumble in December quarter Created : 2010-02-08 12:52:21.0 Author Name :Communications 5 Feb 2010 Median house prices have reached new records in Perth, Geraldton-Greenough, Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Karratha and Port Hedland as the property market bounces back. Data released today by the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia show that the December quarter saw strong growth across the State for both units and houses. In Perth the median house price has reached a new high of $480,000. REIWA President, Alan Bourke, said this was $5,000 higher than the previous level reached in December 2007 when the property boom was at its peak. "Perth has more than recovered all of its 12 per cent loss in median price experienced in 2008, with 14.3 per cent growth in the median price for 2009," Mr Bourke said. Units and apartments have also reached a new record price in the metropolitan area. REIWA data show that the median price for a unit in Perth is now $400,000, up from a previous high of $392,000 achieved two years ago. "Demand pressure on more affordable units, apartments, villas and townhouses saw this section of the market achieve 15.3 per cent growth in 2009. This was probably due, in part, to the surge of first home buyers who were encouraged by the federal grant to enter the market," Mr Bourke said. The median price of land in Perth jumped nearly 18 per cent in the quarter, taking typical lot prices to a median of $265,000, but still short of the $280,000 median price reached during the boom of 2007. However, Mr Bourke indicated this latest median land price is likely to moderate as more sales in the December quarter settle. However, Mr Bourke cautioned homeowners against misinterpreting the data. "The 14.3 per cent growth in median price for Perth doesn't mean that everyone's house jumped 14.3 per cent in value. What it means is that upgrade buyers have tended to purchase more expensive property while at the same time the number of first home buyers seeking more affordable homes has diminished. "This has resulted in the median house price being pulled up to reflect the buying patterns of those people in the market during the December quarter," Mr Bourke said. In much of regional WA it was a similar story. REIWA data show that Geraldton-Greenough has reached a new median price of $375,000, up on its previous high of $370,000 achieved in March 2008. Kalgoorlie-Boulder too has a new median price of $350,000, up from its previous record of $345,000, also from the March quarter of 2008. Port Hedland has jumped from its previous record of $615,000 reached in March last year to a new median of $685,000, a leap of $70,000 in just nine months. "But the real stand-out for this quarter has been Karratha where the median has raced from a record $770,000 in June last year to a new record of $822,000 in December. In other signs of the robust and healthy nature of the Perth property market, the average number of selling days has fallen by 10 days to 54. There were around 10,400 properties on the market at the end of December, down from 12,800 in the September quarter. Some 13,100 properties changed hands during the quarter, down by 8 per cent on September, but not considered unusual given the slowdown into the Christmas holiday period. "The other strong message from the December quarter is about rents. In good news for tenants, the vacancy rate of available properties remains high at 4.7 per cent and rents have remained stable as a result. "The median weekly rent has settled at $360 per week and has been at this level for more than a year," Mr Bourke said.