Perth 29 March 2015. Fresh data from reiwa.com show that the number of properties on the Perth market has reached 14,000 while the number of homes for rent has passed 6,500.

President of the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia, David Airey, said listings had jumped for both sales and rentals as a result of the state’s slowing population growth rate and the affect of new building construction impacting on established home sales.

“The number of properties listed for sale has jumped by over 2000 since the start of the year and sales have slowed by 15 per cent when compared to the same period last year.

“With 6,500 rental properties available across the metropolitan area, that’s a 210 per cent increase since 2012 and has pushed the vacancy rate over 4 per cent,” Mr Airey said.

Mr Airey said the very high level of house and unit construction across the state, accompanied with the fall in population growth, had tipped the scales to oversupply.

“Added to this is the big fall in the number of first home buyers choosing established homes and building new ones instead.

“However, all this is great news for both buyers and tenants because it means there is a huge amount of choice and very competitive pricing.

“Along with record low interest rates, there has rarely been such a good time to buy and first home buyers continue to be active in the market place,” Mr Airey said.

According to reiwa.com, Perth’s median house price dipped by $5,000 last month to around $547,000, while metropolitan rents were holding steady at $440 per week.

“With this large supply of homes for sale and rent, it’s likely we will see negligible price growth across 2015 and a fairly slow market for those selling property or looking for tenants.

“It is essential that sellers and owners listen closely to the advice of their selling agents and property managers to ensure the right marketing and pricing in what will prove to be a very competitive environment,” Mr Airey said.

Mr Airey said that recent figures indicated that days on market for home sales had stretched to 67, compared to a more normal 45, while the number of sellers prepared to discount on their asking price was now 57 per cent.

Rental leasing times across Perth is averaging 36 days.