Perth's property market is easing back from several years of rapid growth, with REIWA data showing active listings held above 6,000 through July and homes taking longer to sell.
REIWA president Suzanne Brown (pictured) said the shift has been driven less by a surge in new stock and more by a change in buyer mood.
"The biggest change in the past few months has been in consumer sentiment. People like stability and certainty. There hasn't been a lot of that lately and it's led to hesitancy among buyers and a reduction in sales activity," Brown said.
She pointed to three interest rate rises earlier this year as a key factor behind buyer caution, alongside cost-of-living pressures. She said other headwinds, including offshore conflict and tax policy changes, were also weighing on confidence, along with heavy media coverage of weaker east coast conditions.
"We need to remember that WA is not the east coast. Our market is very different," Brown said, encouraging buyers and sellers to seek local, suburb-level advice rather than rely on national headlines.
Despite the cooling in activity, Perth prices continued rising in July. The median house price lifted 2.2% over the month to $950,000, up 18% year-on-year, while the median unit price rose 1.6% to $681,000, up 22.7% annually.
Brown said the pace of growth has now topped out.
"Based on current conditions we can comfortably say the rate of growth has peaked, but that doesn't mean the market has crashed," she said.
Listings for sale reached 6,718 by the end of July, up 9.6% on June and more than double year-on-year, following a period of undersupply in late 2025. Selling times have also stretched, with houses taking a median of 23 days, five days slower than June, and units taking 19 days.
Rental prices were stable in July, with median house rents unchanged at $750 a week and unit rents flat at $700, both still well above year-ago levels.
Brown said vacancy remains tight at around 2%, with some investors adopting a cautious, wait-and-see approach to recent tax policy changes rather than exiting the market outright.
For brokers, the data points to a market still favouring sellers on price, but increasingly shifting negotiating power and settlement timelines back toward buyers and investors weighing borrowing capacity against a slower-moving market.
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