Perth units selling in seven days as buyers pounce

First-home buyers rush to units amid tight listings

Perth units selling in seven days as buyers pounce

News

By Mina Martin

Perth’s unit market is running hot, with properties changing hands in a median of just seven days in February, new REIWA figures show. That’s one day faster than January and six days faster than a year ago, underscoring the strength of demand for more affordable homes.

Houses also continued to sell rapidly, with a median selling time of eight days – again, one day faster than January and six days faster than February 2025.

REIWA President Suzanne Brown said the speed of sales reflects intense competition for established stock in a market still short on supply.

“While both houses and units are selling quickly, the tightening we are seeing in the speed of unit sales partly reflects rising house prices and price-conscious buyers looking for more affordable options,” Brown said.

As Australia’s property cycle becomes more selective and constraint‑driven, Perth’s rapid unit sales show where demand is breaking through supply and borrowing bottlenecks.

First-home schemes push buyers into units

Brown said government incentives are amplifying demand in the attached market.

“The federal government’s 5% deposit scheme is also likely to be directing demand towards the unit market, as unit prices are more likely to be below the scheme’s threshold of $850,000 than house prices,” she said.

According to www.reiwa.com data, villas sold in a median of six days, home units in seven, apartments in eight and townhouses in nine, suggesting strong interest across all unit types.

The fastest-selling suburbs for units in February were Yokine (three days); Cockburn Central (four days); Balga, Wembley, and Claremont (six days); and Maylands, Shenton Park, Bayswater, Rivervale, and West Perth (seven days).

Prices climb as listings stay tight

Perth’s sales market remained buoyant, with both house and unit prices continuing to rise. The median house sale price lifted 1.8% over the month to $870,000, up 13.7% year-on-year. The median unit price jumped 3.3% in February and 20.4% over the year to $620,000, mirroring the sharper demand for attached dwellings.

Active listings across Perth rose to 2,723 at the end of February – 10.5% higher than January but still 43.8% below levels a year earlier.

“Even though there has been an increase in new listings, there is so much pent-up demand in the market that they are snapped up extremely quickly, keeping active listings very low,” Brown said.

Rental market stabilises but remains tight

After a strong January, rents eased slightly in February. The median dwelling rent dipped 1.4% to $710 per week, although this remains 5.2% higher than a year earlier. House rents edged down 0.7% to $720 per week, while unit rents rose 1.4% to $700, 7.7% above February 2025.

“The market has settled into a period of relative stability,” Brown said, adding that with vacancy above 2% for more than a year, “we expect to see this pattern continue throughout the year, as long as there is nothing that significantly impacts rental supply.”

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