'Trade-up buyers' help buoy WA median house prices
Data from the December quarter of 2011 has shown that property prices in Western Australia have enjoyed a modest increase over the three month period.
While other states experienced a measurable slowdown in their property markets, WA bucked the trend by recording a 0.5 per cent rise in the value of residential real estate.
This saw the median house price arrive at $465,000 - which is $5,000 above previous estimates, according to the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia (REIWA).
Speaking on the new information, REIWA president David Airey suggested that the shift in value was the result of experienced buyers who were beginning to enter into the prestige side of property ownership
Airey asserted: “First home buyers have been skewing the median downwards by generating large sales volumes of more affordable homes, but now this has been balanced with more up-grade buyers in the market who tend to purchase the more expensive properties.
"REIWA data show that while first home buyers continue to be increasingly active in the market, we saw an increase in trade-up buyers during the December quarter and an increase in house sales of around 6 to 7 per cent which may have put a floor under prices."
The results have shown the first signs of positive movement in median values for the WA property market since they began to decline in March 2010.
