The seven western suburbs where property prices are falling
Research by Western Suburbs Weekly shows houses in seven of the 22 western suburbs have dropped in value by tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in the last 12 months.
But two thirds are continuing the gains, which have boosted household fortunes by up to millions of dollars since 2020.
'After 13 interest rate rises, people who took the risk (on property), contrary to all the thinking at the time, were handsomely rewarded,' property analyst Gavin Hegney said.
Mr Hegney said prices drops across a third of the house market in the exclusive zone was a sign that markets do not move in uniform.
He said patchy growth was common in boom markets, with highly competitive bidding amid low listings forcing some areas to jump in value faster than others, sometimes overshooting fair value.
But he does not believe it is a sign that a bigger correction is about to hit, claiming there was still strong active and latent demand.
'If you listed a $2.5 million home in Cottesloe you would have 10 buyers for it, yet the statistics say the market is falling,' he said.
Cottesloe, which is deemed the epicentre of the boom, has had the biggest cash slide — with a whopping $315,000 — or 10 per cent wiped from house values over the past 12 months to hit a median of $3.15m.
Daglish houses, currently sitting at a median $1.43m, have had the biggest proportional slide, with a 14.8 per cent drop over the past year — or about $211,000.
He said the top end of the market was exercising a bit of caution over geopolitical concerns and stock values.
While the middle market was more affected by the jobs market and the first home buyer market was swayed by rental prices, the top end was more sensitive to matters that affected their wealth creation.
Research by Western Suburbs Weekly shows some suburbs are continuing their stellar run of growth.
Shenton Park has emerged the western suburbs price growth leader, with values up a stunning 97 per cent since 2020 to hit a median of $2.29 million, including 25 per cent over the past year.
The suburb has been buoyed partly by the addition of the upmarket Montario Quarter estate to the local market.
The next biggest post-COVID-era price jump was in City Beach, up 91 per cent over the past five years to hit a median of of $3.06m.
Mr Hegney said the area had been undervalued by about 20 per cent before COVID hit, attributing much of the price growth to 'catch-up.'
Research by Western Suburbs Weekly shows all markets have experienced double-digit gains over the past five years, but only eight in the exclusive area have outperformed the boom across Greater Perth, which has jumped 64 per cent since COVID hit.
Some patches in the exclusive western triangle have substantially underperformed.
Prices over the past five years in Crawley appear to have crawled, inching up only 22 per cent to $1.4 million.
Nedlands has also been a relatively slow riser, up 37 per cent since 2020 to a median of $2.36 million.
SEVEN WESTERN SUBURBS WHERE PRICES HAVE DROPPED: Daglish: 14.8 per cent down Claremont: 13 per cent down Cottesloe: 10 per cent down Dalkeith: 6 per cent down Peppermint Grove: 6.6 per cent down Jolimont: 2.5 per cent down North Fremantle: 3.2 per cent down
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