Armadale, Cockburn, Joondalup, Mandurah, Perth CBD and Woodlands have been tipped to be the metropolitan area’s top suburbs for price growth during the next 12 months.
The locales were identified as suburbs most likely to show price growth above the metropolitan average in a National Australia Bank survey released last week, with Australind the sole regional location forecast to exhibit above average growth over the next year.
The survey predicted house prices across Perth to rise by 2.8 per cent by March next year, with respondents expecting the most significant capital growth to occur for existing houses worth between $250,000 and $500,000.
Apartment’s worth between $250,000 and $500,000 are also expected to exhibit “very good” capital growth over the next year, the survey said.
NAB’s median house price prediction differed from the survey, however, forecasting Perth median house prices to rise by 5.6 per cent over the next year.
In the past 12 months, Perth’s median home price rose by 7 per cent, according to the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia, while property analysts at RP Data-Rismark said the median price rose by 4.7 per cent during the same period.
Demand is likely to be highest for houses in Perth’s middle and outer rings, with just 6 per cent of houses to be purchased by offshore investors, according to the survey.
NAB quizzed around 310 real estate professionals for the survey, including agents and property managers, developers, asset and fund managers, as well as owners and investors.
NAB retail regional general manager for WA Sean FitzGerald said house price expectations strengthened in all states except Victoria, while Queensland house prices were likely to show the biggest gains for the next one to two years.
Expectations for Perth’s rental market were not as bullish, with survey respondents tipping metro area rents to remain flat for the next 12 months, after having previously forecast to grow by 0.6 per cent.
RP Data-Rismark said earlier this month that Perth’s median rent for houses was $480 per week, 2 per cent lower than the same point 12 months ago.
Median rents for units were $450 per week, RP Data-Rismark said, a 4.3 per cent reduction on the previous year.
REIWA said rental vacancies were at their highest level in four years at the end of February, with more than 5,000 properties available to rent in the metropolitan area, a 56 per cent increase on the previous 12 months.
The survey followed data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics earlier this month, which showed rental payments in WA had grown more than any other state or territory in the years between 2006 and 2011.