WA sales volumes trending above 5-year averages: CoreLogic

The latest Monthly Housing Chart Pack for the three months to January released by CoreLogic has revealed that home sales in Western Australia are trending higher than the historical five-year average.

In the three months to January, home sales in Perth reached 12,989, above the five-year average of 9,986, while regional WA recorded a total of 3,307 sales during this period (above the historical average of 2,651).

According to CoreLogic, the trend in home sales in the three months to January were diverse from region to region, much like the growth trends seen in the nation’s capitals.

Along with Perth, Brisbane (12,911), Adelaide (8,287), and Darwin (740) recorded sales volumes above the five-year average. Of this group, regional South Australia (2,578) and regional Western Australia were the only ones to record sales higher than the historical average.

Regional NSW recorded a total of 15,279 sales in the three months to January, higher than the average of 14,327; however, Sydney’s sales numbers trended lower with 16,891 sales over the three months, sitting beneath the average of 19,605.

The Housing Chart Pack also revealed that Australia’s total value of residential real estate had hit $10.3 trillion (up from the $10.2 trillion the previous month) with an outstanding mortgage debt of $2.2 trillion.

This data comes as the latest Property Insights Report released by PEXA observed a surge in sale settlements during the December quarter which has signalled a “positive outlook” and recovery in the Australian property market.

PEXA’s report found that the total number of property transactions across the country exceeded 670,000 over 2023, worth a combined value of around $613 billion. The December quarter recorded the highest volume of sales settlements of any quarter in 2023 at 188,000.

Almost $50 billion worth of residential properties were settled in the December quarter alone across all price bands, with NSW recording the highest spend on residential property in the calendar year at over $192 billion; however, this was down 6.9 per cent on the prior year.

The report further revealed that Western Australia proved to be the most resilient of all the states, recording over 84,000 sales settlements in CY23, maintaining the high volumes recorded throughout the COVID-19 period as other states returned to 2020 levels.

PEXA’s head of research, Mike Gill, said: “Compared to the pandemic-related property boom of 2021 and 2022, the property sector experienced a decline in total settlement volumes last year.

“However, the recovery in settlement volumes in the latter months of 2023 suggest the market may have reached a turning point and buyer confidence is returning. Sales volumes are likely to recover further during 2024.

[RELATED: Perth home values snag top spot in January]