Western Australia’s jobs bonanza and surging population, combined with a continued housing shortfall and an expected fall in interest rates is predicted to push the median house price in Perth above $1 million within the next three years, according to Limnios Property Group Licensee and Managing Director James Limnios.
This underlying strength of the state’s economy was further underlined when WA claimed the top spot as the country’s best-performing economy for the second quarter in a row in the latest CommSec State of the States report.
Mr Limnios said the massive growth in job creation in WA since 2021 had seen more than 250,000 new jobs formed in the state, resulting in it now recording the lowest unemployment rate in Australia.
“Another key issue is not just the quantum number of new jobs being created in WA but also the higher salary levels in the state,” he said. “The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show adult weekly full-time ordinary earnings in WA are the highest of any state in Australia at $2094.
“This salary level compares to New South Wales at $1935 and where the median price of a house in Sydney is $1,193,228 compared to Perth at just $809,870.
“These higher salary levels mean the WA property market is better placed to take advantage of a predicted fall in interest rates compared to other states.
“Over the past three years, this bonanza in highly paid jobs has already seen the median price of a house in Perth surge by more than $340,000 due to migrants flocking to WA to take advantage of our booming state economy.
“Over the last financial year, our net overseas migration rate was nearly 60,000 in WA, with many of these cashed-up migrants finding the favourable currency exchange rate with the Australian dollar making Perth property affordable for them.
“Based on continued strong employment, wages and population growth in WA, combined with a continued shortage of homes, the median price of a house in Perth could comfortably rise by 25 per cent within the next three years to above $1 million.”
Mr Limnios said even if the local housing construction worked at full capacity, it would take several years for it to produce enough housing stock to have a meaningful impact on the ongoing housing shortage in the Perth metropolitan area.
“Limnios Property Group believes over the next three years, the inner-city area of Perth will be the star performer in the local property market,” he said.
“We are predicting strong capital growth in this area, where there is a significant undersupply of housing and where housing demand is set to substantially increase.
“For example, the opening of the new ECU City campus in early 2026 with more than 9000 students and staff coming at a time when very few housing developments are underway in the area.
“In addition, Perth’s inner-city area has benefited from the jobs bonanza, with more than 20,000 new jobs being created in the area over the past four years.
“Properties in the locale are still undervalued and are being sold below replacement cost, meaning there is a very strong capacity for substantial capital growth there moving forward.
“At the same time, the major shortfall between housing demand and supply has seen rents in the inner city continue to grow strongly, and we expect this trend to continue for the next several years.”
